


Temporal Obscura

by fadewithfury (foxmoon)



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Alternate Universe - Western, Episode: s02e03 School Reunion, Episode: s02e04 The Girl in the Fireplace, Episode: s02e08 The Impossible Planet, Episode: s02e09 The Satan Pit, Episode: s02e12 Army of Ghosts, Episode: s02e13 Doomsday, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Guns, Post Episode: s02e06 The Age of Steel, Retelling, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-26 13:31:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 90,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6241138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxmoon/pseuds/fadewithfury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Tyler is a saloon girl in Little London, aimless and frustrated with her life. Though her heart's bigger than the starry sky above, her pockets are as empty as a well after a drought. One evening, a mysterious stranger rides into town on a blue stagecoach and her life is forever changed the moment he takes her hand. (Western-Steampunk AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Desert Rose

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old fic of mine (the first chapter fic that I completed) that I took down a while back because it didn't do as well as I hoped, and I wanted to try to make it better. I no longer have time to work on it, so I'm just gonna let it go as it is. Regardless of my terrible early fic-writing abilities, I hope you enjoy it. :) :)
> 
> *The storyline that includes the 9th Doctor is not until chapter 14.

Henrik’s Saloon in the prosperous western town of Little London was alive and loud. Nothing unusual about that in the slightest. Patrons from all over the region gathered for a raucous night of gambling, booze and women.  Nestled at the crossroads of two prominent highways, Henrik’s was proud to serve the ranchers, prospectors, miners and trappers that so frequently travelled those long, dusty roads. Rose thanked her lucky stars that her ma had picked this town to settle after her pa died in a freak carriage accident on his way to a fancy wedding out east. Not so much that she hated wandering from town to town helping her pa peddle tonic water (that he’d insist was the secret to permanent health and beauty)—she was just tired of bone dry and dirt poor.

Rose was a saloon girl. Her job at Henrik’s was to entertain the all-male patronage, offer them an alluring smile to make them feel all special and coax them to stay a little longer –to gamble just a bit more of their earnings. Her real talent was singing, and oh could she draw a crowd. She’d hop up on the piano or the bar and cross her legs to not-so-subtle display her garter-clad thigh; she’d weave her way through the cluttered tables with swaying hips. She’d allow her voice and her curves to lull the men to a relaxed and open state of mind. It wasn’t a bother to put herself out there if it meant making enough money so she and her mother could afford a place to live on their own.  Wasn’t like she was a sleeping with anyone.

But it wasn’t always so fancy-free. There was the grabbing and groping, the pawing at her corset-clad breasts or her ruffled, pink bustle to get at her bum. She’d have to use her feathered fan to swat grimy hands away. Or, if they were truly persistent, she didn’t mind using a fist or two.

Tonight, she just simply wasn’t into it. Any of it.  There’d been several long nights in a row and she just hadn’t been able to take a break. Days like this she couldn’t help but feel something was missing. Something deep and primal. Felt it whenever she looked up from the balcony in the ladies’ dressing boudoir at the stars in the wide night sky.

Trapped and bored. Trapped in a life of monotony and of always being on guard. Of always having to defend herself against the drunken, eager advances of men whose teeth and fingers and laps were caked with filth and greed. She had just finished a flirty song and dance with another saloon girl, Shareen, and was about to head out for the night when the doors swung open and a tall, duster-clad figure strolled right in. Table by table, the noisy night trailed off to silence and the lilting, joyful piano trilled to a stop in the wake of the quieting crowd.

Rose had never seen this man before, which wasn’t such a peculiar thing on its own, but he caught her eye nonetheless. He cut a slim figure in his brown duster and pinstriped suit, tall and lean and handsome. And clean. Clean shaven, clean clothes, clean Stetson. Boots were a little dusty, but that’s about it. And this is what made her stare. What made them all stare, in fact. He was quickly the brunt of a few crude jabs in regards to his sexuality, but he brushed past them with practiced nonchalance. After it seemed he wouldn’t be ruffled, the drunkards and gamblers turned back to their whiskey and cards. The piano player struck up another frolicking tune now that he didn’t need to worry about evacuating in the event of a knockdown, drag out. 

The handsome stranger made his way to the bar.

Rose slid up on a barstool that she hoped would be in his path, and arranged herself in her most enticing pose. She gave her blonde waves a little toss all pretty-like over her shoulder. But, the moment his eyes settled on her, she felt a surge of insecurity and she looked away, her face hot with sudden onset desire. She’d accepted too many doting shots of whiskey.

“Why don’t you welcome our new guest, Rose,” said the bar tender, Mickey Smith. He polished a glass as he spoke—the same glass he’d been polishing the entire time she sang with Shareen.  His tone was a little cold, and she knew he wasn’t quite over her yet.

“Oh, I’m planning on it.” Rose lifted her chin and regarded him coolly. This must have conflicted with her blushed cheeks, as he just smirked a bit in response.

Rose sensed the stranger’s presence as he drew near. She forced herself to catch his eye as he passed and gave him a welcoming smile. “Welcome to Henrik’s. Don’t believe I’ve seen you ‘round here before.” She displayed genuine interest in her tone.

The stranger grinned back and removed his hat, revealing a messy crop of thick, brown hair. “I come here all the time. Well, maybe not here, but here. As in Little London. Truth is I’m just passing through tonight.”

“Travel a lot, then?” Rose asked, leaning closer. “Got a name?”

“Yep,” he emphasized the p with a pop of his lips. “I’m the Doctor.”

“The Doctor? Just the Doctor?” Rose arched an eyebrow.

“That’s me. The Doctor,” he grinned, crowsfeet splaying from the corners of his eyes.

“Are you runnin’ some kind of traveling apothecary? Do you peddle medicines and such?” Rose found herself growing genuinely interested in this man, which was quite a relief after having to fake it all night.

“Mmm, sort of. A little bit of medicine, a little bit of alchemy. I’m a tinkerer also. Lots of tinkering,” said the Doctor.

Mickey cleared his throat. “Are you gonna order, mister?” He put both of his hands down on the bar in front of the Doctor, shoulders rounded in an attempt to look intimidating.

Rose startled slightly, having completely blocked Mickey from her periphery. “Oh, my… yes, ah…Doctor, would you care for beer or a whisky? We’ve got a fresh keg of barley beer tapped.”

“Water, please,” he said with a gracious smile to Mickey. “Would like to keep my wits.”

Rose adjusted her skirts and turned towards him more fully. “I’d love to hear about your travels. I used to do a bit of it myself.”

“Is that so? Well, I go all over, really.” The Doctor nodded to Mickey in thanks as his water was placed before him on the bar.

“Care to elaborate? I’ve got all night,” Rose said with a smile.

“I’d love to show you, but first… get down,” the Doctor sipped his water.

“Pardon? Get down?”

“Yes.  Both of you might want to,” he knocked back his glass at that, took a large gulp and slammed it down on the bar top.

Then, all at once, everything went to chaos. A high whistling sound tore through the bustle of the crowd. Before Rose could discern what it might be, the windows all shattered and the entire saloon vibrated in the wake of an explosion outside. The Doctor rose to his feet and shoved Mickey, knocking him to the ground behind the bar. He pulled Rose down to the floor with him, collapsing several barstools. Scrapes and crashes of chairs sliding out, tables tumbling and bodies hitting the ground followed. The patrons yelled as they sought cover. Another whistle sounded and this time, something tore through the side wall of the saloon and careened across the room and through the opposite wall. Another explosion rocketed through the saloon, this time spitting shards of wood and dust everywhere.

“Run!” yelled the Doctor as he grabbed Rose’s hand and pulled her along with him through the cacophony and destruction. She did her best to avoid tripping over broken chairs and tangled legs as she was pulled, his hand unnervingly cold in hers. But, she held on as though her life depended on it—and for all she knew, it did.

Once they reached the back door of the saloon, the Doctor kicked it open and they hurled outside into the dark alley. It stank of hay and horse shit out there, and Rose hoped to god that the Doctor would do his best to avoid piles of the stuff as he dragged her along with him into the stables.

Once inside the stables, the Doctor let go of her hand and dashed up to a covered, blue stagecoach that had been parked in the back. The stagecoach was quite small and tethered to only one horse—one impressive black horse. He climbed into the driver’s box and grabbed the reins.

“Well, climb in! We have to get out of here,” said the Doctor as the horse hoofed the ground impatiently.

“What about Mickey? The saloon!” Rose flailed, trying to find her footing in these high-heeled shoes. “What if it happens again!?” 

“They’ll be all right. I’m the target, so they’re probably looking for me now,” the Doctor said as though there shouldn’t be any further reason for her to protest. “Now, get in, or I won’t be able to tell you about my travels. You said you have all night.” He winked.

“You came in to my saloon _knowing_ you were under attack? Oh, that’s rich! Now why in hell would I put myself in that kind of situation willingly?” Rose was indignant, her face hot with embarrassment, anger, _fear._

The Doctor’s face fell then, and his mouth twitched in frustration. “No one died this time. If you don’t want to come along, that’s fine. Just get out of my way.”

Rose felt captured by the sudden darkness in his demeanor. He stared her down with eyes deep and glittering. She took a step back and her fingers fluttered over her hair, her dress, smoothing the tangles and snags. Figured that she’d want to go the moment he accepted that she didn’t. “I…”

“Doctor!” a gruff voice yelled from the alley. “You’ve got nowhere left to run! I’ve flushed you out like the trash-eating varmint you are! Show yourself before I start killing these stupid apes!”

The Doctor’s eyes flicked towards the direction of the voice and he raised the reins.  The ringing sound of spurred boots resounded as a shadowed figure swept into the stables.

Rose whipped her head towards the Doctor’s pursuer and backed against the step that led up to the Doctor’s stagecoach, tripping a little on the sweeping pink satin that draped from her bustle.

“Davros,” said the Doctor. 

“Well, nice little piece of flesh you got there,” said Davros, stepping into the moonlight that filtered in through the roof slats. He was hideousness defined—gray, gnarled skin. Deep, dark pits where his eyes should be. A blue glowing disc appeared to be stitched crudely into the skin of his forehead. His riding leathers were copper, with large brass studs.

Rose took a quick inventory of her options and decided to scuttle up the step. She flung herself into the area just behind the Doctor on the driver’s box.

The Doctor’s eyes remained fixed on Davros. “You might want to step out of the way.”

“What are you going to do? Trample me to death?” Davros laughed, a sickening cackle.

“A lot more than you could do to me right now. You’ve spent your ammunition. Your minions are nowhere to be found. Possibly because I destroyed them all the last time.” The Doctor’s lip curled into a grin as he snapped the reins. “Hyaah!”

The horse reared up and whinnied. The sound echoed off the shabby stable walls. Rose peered from her perch behind the Doctor and her eyes grew wide as the horse’s eyes began to glow a brilliant gold. She whinnied again and was soon encased in shimmering golden light.

And then, they were off. Rose tumbled backwards into the back of the stagecoach as the speed took her breath away. The entire coach bumped, lurched and shook as it slammed into Davros.

 Rose ducked, shielding her head with her arms. “Oh my god! You just ran him over!” She had to yell over the noise of the wheels grinding across the dirt road at break-neck speed.

“Are you really protesting right now?” the Doctor yelled back.

Rose had nothing to say to that as she peered over the hook of her arm to take in her surroundings. She collapsed onto her bustle as she was struck dumb by the sight before her eyes. Inside the stagecoach was enormous! The size of a plantation home at least. With a grand staircase in the back that led up to an entire level! Ornate décor embellished every corner—chaise lounges, lush plants, intricate Persian rugs, priceless paintings, candelabras. It was an estate!

“Doctor!” cried Rose, overwhelmed. She rubbed her eyes, not believing what she saw.

“There’s a parlor up the hall if you’d like to freshen up,” the Doctor said with a smile in his voice.

 


	2. The Ends of the Earth

The Doctor parked his stagecoach near a watering hole used by ranchers for their cattle. Thankfully, said cattle were not in the area at this time of year, so they needn’t worry about a stampeed. They had veered off the main road sometime during the night, driven by the Doctor’s hunch that something brilliant would be happening at some point along the way.  Said he could smell it on the wind.

 _What wind?_ Rose was starting to wonder if this Doctor might be a bit off his rocker. The air was as still as a creek in a drought, but then he’d said, “Oh, you’ll see.  Or smell, as it were,” with a far off look in his eyes. And she no longer had to wonder. He was absolutely cracked.

Rose climbed out of the stagecoach, now wearing attire more appropriate for a desert romp. The getup was all set out for her when she woke up that morning, having slept the remainder of the night in a lavish down mattress and beneath crisp linen sheets. She noticed the distinct lack of a gun belt that would typically accompany such an outfit. 

Deep brown canvass pants clung to her legs and tucked into black riding boots. She wore a wine-pink blouse under a black leather vest and matching leather belt slung low around the swell of her hips. The buckles and buttons of her attire were all silver metal, and her hair was tucked underneath a dark brown riding hat.

The Doctor smiled at her as she joined him at the edge of the lake. He had set up a little cookfire. The delicious smell of cornbread rose from an iron skillet set aside on a stone. More importantly, coffee was brewing in a pot on the fire. “Good morning, miss,” he said as he grabbed a couple of mugs.

“Mornin’,” said Rose. “Call me Rose. Rose Tyler—sorry, rude of me. Never did introduce myself properly.” She dipped into a curtsey.

“Rose Tyler,” the Doctor nodded, tipping his hat—a different one than from the saloon. “Did you sleep all right?” He ladled a cup of coffee for her and one for himself. He offered it to her in a gloved hand.

Rose took it graciously and brought it beneath her nose to breathe in the wonderful smell. “Thank you. I slept great. Don’t know how in hell you can fit a whole house in that thing. That kept me up a trifle. That and the matter of my place of work being blown to bits. Other n’ that, I slept like a stone. By the way, why’re you eating out here? You mean there ain’t a kitchen in that mansion you’re toting around?”

“Well, yes. The TARDIS has a fully functioning gourmet kitchen, but I prefer cooking outside,” the Doctor said with a mild defensive tone.

Rose quirked an eyebrow. “TARDIS?”

“Oh, ehm, yes.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry about that other stuff. I thought I’d lost his trail, but he’s crafty, Davros. ” The Doctor sipped his coffee and then turned to serving each of them a bit of cornbread.  “Won’t be the last we’ll see of him, afraid.”

“Why’s he after you?” Rose took the cloth napkin-encased chunk of cornbread as it was offered to her.

“Oh, he and I go way back. He’s a bit of a mad inventor who lost some of his humanity as time went on. And by some, I mean all. And by all, I mean he’s rather vile. Bent on destroying everything, but you see—I’m just a bit cleverer than he and I’ve still got my humanity intact. So, destroying me has become a bit of an obsession of his. It’s tiresome, but I’d rather he get distracted by wanting to murder me if it means he’d stop trying to murder everything else.”

Rose pinched off a chunk of the cornbread and bit into it as her brain bit into his story. Both were a little hard to swallow. “So is he an outlaw or what?”

“Not officially, well, maybe he is now. Sherriff of Little London will probably see to that. Might make him lay low for a bit, which is good news for me,” said the Doctor as he finished up his breakfast.

“Just where are you from, anyway? Never seen anything like your stagecoach before—is it some kind of magic?” Rose narrowed her eyes. “Are you a sorcerer?”

“No, not at all, but for the sake of argument, let’s just say that I am,” the Doctor said. He began cleaning up the cookfire. “I’m a magical physician with an otherworldly stagecoach.”

Rose helped him put out the fire and dumped out what was left of the coffee. “Is it some kind of mad science? Seems too real. Maybe looks a bit outdated, but sturdy.

The Doctor grinned at her. “Oh, I like you, Rose Tyler. Mad science. Do you read, by chance?”

“I—ah, no, but there’s a theater in town and they put on stories all the time. Once they did _Frankenstein_ and it looked like magic, but it was really science. Scary science…” Rose looked at her nails as she spoke, avoiding his gaze. Though it wasn’t too common for women to be well read, especially out in the middle of the great wide open, something about the Doctor made her worry he’d think less of her since she wasn’t.

The Doctor finished packing away the cooking gear as he spoke. “Ahh, the Modern Prometheus. I can assure you what I do is nothing like that story. Well, maybe it’s a little bit like it. But I don’t bring patchwork corpses to life.” He withdrew a long, thin device from his inside duster pocket. It was bronze, with tiny piping down the side and a series of equally minuscule cogs and valves connecting them. He pressed on the grip. It emitted a whirring trill, and the tip lit up like a brilliant blue jewel.

Rose stared at the device as the Doctor crouched down and aimed it at one of the stagecoach wheels. “What’s that?”

The Doctor looked up. “A screwdriver.”

“Doesn’t look like any screwdriver I ever saw,” said Rose, tilting her head. Just one mystery after another with this fellow. 

"It's harmonic," he said with a wink.

“Right... So when’s that wind coming?”

“The wind? Oh—” The Doctor stood and scanned the arid terrain surrounding them. He pointed over the horizon, past a line of red, striated cliffs and a wide span of brittle ground. “I’m guessing it’ll come from over there.” He sniffed. “Smells like a fire…”

Rose held up her hand and stared out across the landscape before them. “Looks like nothing but dirt and dry grass for miles.” She grew silent before adding, “My mother has no idea where I am…”

“Best way to learn more about exactly what it is I do is to join me,” the Doctor said as he climbed into the driver’s box. He held his hand out to her. “My TARDIS is made with a bit of mad science, you know… We can go anywhere you’d want to go. See anything you’d ever want to see—,” he looked at her quietly for a moment. “Or I can take you back home.”

Rose took his hand and allowed him to help her up into the seat next to him.  As she settled, she thought about her mother and the saloon, and a hand of doubt gripped her wildly beating heart. The Doctor intrigued her more than anything ever had in her entire life. His promise of adventure and of seeing the wonders that the wide open land has to offer—too tempting to turn down. She looked over at him and saw he was watching her, head tilted and eyes searching. Up close, she could see his freckles and the shadow of stubble on his jaw. His rich, brown eyes regarded her with an otherworldly reverence.

“I can take you on one journey and see how you like it. Then I’ll take you home,” he smiled and the corners of his eyes crinkled in a way she found quite appealing. He picked up the reins. “I’d really love your company.”

A slow smile spread across Rose’s face and she bumped her shoulder against his. “All right, it’s a deal.”

The Doctor snapped the reins and the horse whinnied before she took off, slow and steady at first. “Where to, miss Rose?”

“Let’s check out that fire you smell. Could be trouble.” Rose flashed him a teasing grin, tongue poking through her teeth.

The Doctor laughed. “Might be dangerous. And it’s far—very far. End of the earth far.”

“But people could be in danger,” Rose tossed back at him.

“Quite right,” he regarded her fondly, and with another snap of the reins, the horse-pulled TARDIS took off, dust billowing behind as it went.

///

It only seemed like moments, but the Doctor insisted they’d been riding for over two hours. Rose hadn’t noticed the landscape transform from the arid region they left to a grassy plain dappled with tall trees and the swell of enormous mountains in the distance. She wondered if she had fallen asleep, but the Doctor assured her that she hadn’t.

She looked behind where they were sitting, into the stagecoach, and saw the polished wooden floors and ornate carpets, the grand staircase and swaying chandelier. There was a lot more to this stagecoach than what it seemed, even beyond it being bigger on the inside.

Rose whipped around as the Doctor drew the coach to a swift halt. She blinked and rubbed her eyes—she was certain she hadn’t blacked out. _How did we get here so fast?_ Now, they were parked before a small prairie town, complete with a quaint little schoolhouse nearby on the hill. Over the hills surrounding the town loomed a large, dark cloud.  The smell of smoke filled her nostrils and she coughed.

“Smoke on the wind,” said the Doctor. “That’s a prairie fire, and from the looks of it, it’s heading straight for this town.” He pulled his kerchief up over his nose and mouth and motioned for Rose to do the same.

Rose did as he prompted and didn’t find it any easier to breathe through the material, but at least it staved off the onslaught of acrid smoke. She scanned the town and saw people gathered before a general store. “Should we go warn them? I mean, can’t they tell?”

“Some people are stubborn, or perhaps they don’t have a ride out.  The wind’s going to pick up and that fire will overwhelm this area within moments,” the Doctor stared, his brow furrowed. “I’ve taken you to the ends of the earth, and wouldn’t you know… it’s on fire.”

“We’ve got to help ‘em!” Rose jumped down from the driver’s box, and took off across the grassy plain towards the school house. Her hat flew off as she ran and her hair tumbled out and whipped in the wind.

The Doctor called out after her, but she didn’t hear—or didn’t care. She ran fast, but pressed on until her legs burned and her lungs ached. The air was filthy with smoke, making her short of breath a lot more quickly than she was used to. She finally reached the school house and flung open the doors to find it empty. Relief washed over her and she collapsed against the wall, gasping for air.

The Doctor’s bootsteps thudded through the grass outside and he soon flung himself into the school house after her. He fell to his knees before her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Rose! You shouldn’t exert yourself in this air. It could be fatal—you could suffocate!”

Rose winced as she rasped for air. She leaned against him as he drew her up to her feet. “Sorry—I, I thought of the children…”

“I know,” the Doctor steadied her and she slung an arm around his waist for support as he helped her out. “But you won’t save anyone if you keel over first.” He helped her down the steps that led to the schoolhouse, and turned so they could both look down at the town.

Rose rested her head against him, finding it less strenuous to breathe as she calmed. She heard him swear and looked up to see a brilliant scarlet line of light cresting the distant hill. A gust of wind swept through the area and she nearly cried out as the flames soared up in response.

“It’s so fast!” Rose gasped, and attempted to take off again, but he held her back.

“We have time to walk, come on, this way.” The Doctor led her down a hill and around to the small dirt road that led into the town.

They drew near the crowd of people that had gathered before the general store. A proper lady with a silken bonnet, matching silk bustle, sweeping skirts and elegant tatted collar stood on the porch of the general store. She held a frilly parasol overhead and laced gloves adorned her tiny hands. She was beautiful—with blonde ringlets piled up under her bonnet and a slim-waisted bodice. Two men in rich, black frock coats flanked her, wafting giant fans at her to keep her cool.

“I haven’t got room for all of you, and I’ll not take any of you if you can’t afford it!” the woman shouted over the crowd. A panicked frenzy of shouts followed.

The Doctor withdrew his harmonic screwdriver and aimed it at the gas light over the woman’s shoulder. It flared up and then popped, causing the glass case to crack and shatter to the ground. The woman screamed and ducked and the crowd echoed with a chorus of gasps.  They all looked over to the Doctor then, and the woman joined their stare.

“Did you do that? Who do you think you are? I’m trying to close out a business transaction here,” said the woman. She fanned herself with her hand, then stomped her foot. “Fan me! It’s hot as sin out here!” She snapped at the two men with fans.

“I’m the Doctor, and yes, I did that. You do realize that within the next couple of hours, this town’ll be consumed in flames? Your business transaction won’t amount to a hill of beans after that.” The Doctor tilted is head.  “Who do _you_ think _you_ are?”

The woman scoffed, lifting her chin. “I’m Lady Cassandra O’Brien, you should know that if you’re from anywhere around here.”

“Well, Lady Cassandra, I think you’d better help these people get out of here. Don’t you think that’s a bit more important than making a few bucks?”

Rose looked up at the Doctor and then over to Lady Cassandra, who burst out laughing. It was a high, tinkling sound that might have been beautiful if she were kinder.

“I’ve found it’s quite simple to do both at the same time,” Lady Cassandra purred, then turned to her companions. “Please deal with him so we can get on with it.”

Both men nodded curtly, then reached into their coats and withdrew twin pistols. The surrounding crowd fell to the ground.

Rose and the Doctor threw their hands in the air.

“Easy, now. We are unarmed—we are just here to help.” The Doctor’s tone was remarkably calm. Rose watched him, her admiration growing.

Lady Cassandra laughed again. “Well, then, I would be happy to let you help once I finish up here. Where were we? You—“ She pointed a dainty gloved hand to a gentleman in the crowd who was crouched with his arms sheltering two small children. “You offered three dollars, did you not?”

“It’s all I have! I swear, just please get my family out of there!” The man cried out.

“Oh, poor dear. I would, but this gentleman,” Lady Cassandra swept her hand to another man in the crowd. “Had already offered five dollars.”

The first man began pleading desperately with the second, and Lady Cassandra sighed impatiently.

“I have one hundred dollars—I’ll give it to you if you hop in your carriage and get the hell out of here so I can do a proper job of rescuing these innocent people from BURNING ALIVE!” the Doctor’s mouth twisted into a scowl.

Lady Cassandra’s eyebrow lifted, interested. “One hundred? That’s a lot of money, sir. What’s a cowboy like you doing with so much cash?”

“Does it matter?” said Rose, finding her courage. “Just take it! You’re risking death to make a quick buck? Not much in that pretty head of yours is there?”

The wind shifted then, and a heavy cloud of smoke spilled over the hill and into the town proper. The fire roared in its wake, flames arcing higher and higher as it fed on the wind and abundant tinder of dried grass. Everyone coughed miserably as the smoke made breathing harder and harder to bear.

Lady Cassandra shrieked. “Fan me! Quickly! Ugh, I smell like a fireplace!”

Her companions fumbled with their firearms as they attempted to keep their aims while fanning her with the cumbersome fans. It was all too much, and a shot rang out as one of them lost his grip on the trigger. The rogue bullet ricocheted off a water pail across the road.

The Doctor used the distraction to take control of the situation. “Everyone, come with me. I have a coach up the road that will fit all of you. We have to move quickly.”

“No! You promised me a hundred dollars!” Cassandra yelled. “I need that money! You don’t understand!”

The Doctor lifted his harmonic screwdriver and it shot a beam of blue light up into the sky, followed by that strange whistling sound. Within moments, his gorgeous horse-drawn TARDIS came rolling down from where it was parked by the schoolhouse. “Rose, help me file them in. I’m going to try to talk sense into Cassandra. We haven’t got much time.”

As if to punctuate his urgency, the fire roared towards the edge of town, engulfing a small house within seconds. The people were sluggish and sick from the smoke, but Rose managed to get them all in the TARDIS without too much chaos.

The Doctor stormed up to Cassandra. “Let’s go. Now. Or you can die here, your choice.”

Cassandra launched herself at the Doctor. “Help me! I don’t want to die like this! I’m completely broke!” Her companions rushed to her side, catching her before she bowled the Doctor over.

“Well, come on then! Hurry!” he shoved his screwdriver back in the inside pocket of his duster and climbed up to the driver’s box of the TARDIS.

Rose reached down to help Cassandra and her minions up into the coach. Once they were all inside, the carriage took off, careening away from the destruction just in time.

The townsfolk were much too disoriented—some even fell unconscious—one they entered the TARDIS to make much comment about just how they could all fit. Cassandra fell against a chaise lounge, coughing and sputtering as tears streamed down her face.

“Rose,” the Doctor called over his shoulder, “The TARDIS is venting the smoke and circulating fresh air; medical supplies are in the room just past the study on the right. I’ll be in there to help you as soon as I can.”

Rose nodded and rushed to the room, only to find she had no idea what she should get. She fumbled through the shelves of bottles and vials, sifted through drawers of bandages. Cursing herself for her lack of medical training—not that she had ever thought to learn it in the past, her eyes finally fell on the only thing she knew would help people. Skins of water hung from a bar over a low bookshelf. She grabbed them in haste, and then rushed out to find herself in a long hallway.

“Doctor!” Rose tore through the halls in a panic. This hallway most certainly wasn’t there before! She tried every door, all locked, until she reached a staircase. Her breathing grew shallower as the effects of smoke inhalation began to affect her, finally overcoming the surge of adrenaline. She slumped against the last door and it swung open to the foyer where she began.

It was….empty. Save for the Doctor. He was wearing dark-rimmed spectacles and had been inspecting his harmonic screwdriver when she entered.

“Wha—where?” Rose dropped the water skins and swayed, dizzy. “Am I seein’ things?”

“Had to wipe their memories and dropped them off just outside of a town a safe distance away from the fire,” the Doctor said. He came to her side and held her steady. “You’ll need to rest a bit. You’ve been through a lot…”

Rose sighed, leaning heavily against him. Her legs wobbled, deprived of strength. “We saved them,” she whispered.

“Yes,” said the Doctor as he guided her towards the room where she had slept the night before. “And you were brilliant.”


	3. The Pink and Yellow Sunset

 The Doctor couldn’t resist showing her a few other places on their way back to Little London. He promised it’d be like they never left, so Rose had no qualms against it. She allowed herself to be swept off to faraway towns in other countries, rather exotic to her eye. She’d slip her arm through his as they walked through an ancient bazaar, wrapped in the alluring smoke of incense and melodies of long-forgotten songs. He had then brought her to a snow-swathed land where they sat on the TARDIS roof to watch as curtains of green light danced across the arctic sky. Reluctantly, they’d both decided that it was time to head back.

“How long has it been since we left?” Rose asked over the rhythmic canter of horse hooves and the steady grinding of the TARDIS wheels.  She sat beside the Doctor in the driver’s box, not wanting to miss a moment of the journey. She still couldn’t figure out how it seemed time on the TARDIS would pass like a nebulous cloud of disjointed images. One moment they’d been cutting through a gorgeous expanse of swaying prairie grass, and the next they were surrounded by nothing but dust and stone.

“Oh, shouldn’t have been more than a couple days for your mother.” The Doctor reassured her as he handed her the reins. “Hold this a moment.”

“Hope you don’t expect me t’drive a TARDI-whatsit.”

He chuckled. “TARDIS. Transcending Aether in Relatively Dependable Impervious Stagecoach.”

“Relatively?”

Rose took the reins with slight unease and watched as he flipped a series of levers, twisted a knob and pressed a crank along a narrow panel that spread the length of the driver’s box before him.  He always performed this task with a flourish, though whatever the gears and knobs did, she couldn’t quite tell. Sometimes it seemed he’d get it a bit wrong and the TARDIS wheels would squeal or the horse would panic a bit and they’d fishtail in the dirt. This time, the blue stagecoach eased into a gentle roll as the horse guided them down to Little London.

The town was silhouetted like broad strokes of ink against a canvass of setting sun. Rose looked up higher to the darkening sky where the first sparks of starlight had emerged from their daytime slumber. A sigh passed through her lips and she settled back in her seat to float in her contentment. She felt the Doctor place his hand over hers to get her attention before gently taking back the reins. The sensation of his touch lingered, and she swept her hands across one another in memory of his touch.

“Thank you,” he said.

 Rose turned to smile at him, but he was looking up at the sky and didn’t see.  She felt a bit silly for it and chewed on her lip. They both fell silent and Rose chose to stare at the jagged line of rooftops as they drew ever closer. Hendrik’s should be busy this time of evening. She swore she could almost hear the tinkling of its piano over the grinding stagecoach wheels.

“Bet my mother’s gone mad looking for me,” said Rose quietly.

 “Sky is all pink and yellow. A bit like you,” the Doctor said, equally as quiet and more or less to himself. 

Rose looked at him, expecting him to go on as he often would. But, he said nothing further and simply stared straight ahead. He guided the TARDIS through the town entrance and pulled up to the crossroads at the foot of the saloon.

Rose shielded her eyes from the glare of the gaslight overhead. “They sure built Henrik’s up mighty fast.”

 “Where does your mother live? I can take you straight—“ The Doctor looked at her. “Wait, what did you say?”

“I said that…”

“Henrik’s,” the Doctor leaned over and fidgeted with the controls. He frowned. “I’m so sorry, Rose.”

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Before he could respond, the saloon doors swung open and a woman wearing a faded blue dress and a furious glare stormed out. “You hold it right there!”

Rose whipped around to see her mother hiking up her skirt with one hand and a double-barrel shotgun clenched in the other as she careened down the stairs. “Ma?”

“We’ve been gone for a bit longer than a couple of days, it would seem…” the Doctor said, distractedly. He swallowed as Rose’s mother closed in.

Rose stood and leapt down from the driver’s box. “Ma! I can explain—“

“You bet your pretty little hat you’ll explain, Rose Tyler!” Jackie Tyler aimed her gun.

The Doctor set down the reins and climbed out of the stagecoach to join Rose. “Ma’am, I understand your alarm.” He held up his hands as though it would quell her rage, or perhaps, stop a bullet. “I can assure you that your daughter has been very safe, and very unharmed.”

Rose thought he was the epitome of poise up until her mother dropped the shotgun from one hand and cracked her open palm across his face.

“OW!” The Doctor spun to the side with the force of the blow. He held his hand over his stinging cheek and glared between Rose and her mother.

“That’s Jackie Tyler to you, _sir._ Rose, get inside. This is gonna get ugly,” Jackie lifted the gun once more and found her aim.

A few patrons at Henriks had spilled out into the porch to watch. They leaned against the posts that held up the awning, hands at their hips and ready to draw their guns if necessary. A few others had propped open the window shutters so they could watch, not wanting to leave their card hands unattended.

Rose grew weary as the crowd gathered around them. She moved to stand in front of the Doctor. “You didn’t have to hit him. He never once hurt me.”

Jackie lowered the shotgun. “Like hell I didn’t! You ran off with him for a whole year! Didn’t write me a single letter to make sure I knew you were okay. I thought you were kidnapped and I’d never see you again!”

“What? A whole year?” Rose’s eyes grew wide and she spun around to face the Doctor. “A whole year?!”

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. The motion bumped his hat so it fell askew over his face. “For them.” He said sheepishly.

“You’re going to get in that eyesore of a stagecoach and drive your ass out of this town and never come back. How dare you? I thought my daughter was dead!” Jackie closed in on him once more.

“Hey! She’s not an eyesore!” The Doctor huffed and his horse blustered, hoofing the ground. The Doctor braced himself for another attack, but it didn’t come. “I—I’m so sorry, miss Tyler.” He hesitantly turned to Rose, not wanting to let down his guard. “Was lovely to meet you, Rose.” With that, he climbed back into the TARDIS and grasped the reins.

“Wait! Wait, please don’t leave yet,” Rose hopped up onto the step of the driver’s box and leaned across to whisper to him. “Let me talk to her. Then I want to talk to you, so, you’d better stay right here.”

“Rose, get inside. Now,” demanded Jackie. “Go an’ see Mickey. We’ve all been worried sick about you.”

The Doctor straightened his hat as he looked at her.  He leaned over to return her whisper. “Should listen to her; don’t let her worry.”

Rose stared up at him, and it felt like he was telling her goodbye for good. He looked at her like he was trying to commit her to memory, and she realized that she was doing the same. Her eyes swept from the messy edges of his hair sticking out from beneath his hat, to the curve of his bottom lip. She wanted to reach out and touch the red mark on his cheek where her mother had slapped him, but wasn’t sure if it’d be appropriate. Her fingers curled on the seat as she stilled her urge. “Go, but don’t go far. I’ll find you.”

The Doctor nodded and swallowed. He waited until she had joined her mother’s side before he snapped the reins and drove off.

Rose watched the TARDIS disappear down the main road that would lead out of the opposite side of town, her hands clenching and unclenching. She felt angry at her mother for scaring him off, and yet angry at him for—for what? She had no way of defining it. For stealing her away for a year and showing him the beauty of the world? But it had only been a couple of days from her perspective. Did he know that it was a risk? She sighed and stalked past her mother and up to the saloon, dreading how the next few hours would play out.

///

Three weeks later, Rose was back at her job at Henrik’s as though nothing had ever happened. Except that it had, and Rose felt it keenly. The night she had watched the Doctor drive off in his strange, blue stagecoach, she had felt like he was taking the stars with him and she’d never see them again.

Later that evening, she had snuck out once she was sure her mother had fallen asleep. She had searched the town over until dawn, but he was nowhere to be found. She did the same thing the next night, and the next, and the next…until finally it sunk in that he must not want to be found.  Rose had known heartbreak before, but this was something different. Once she had beheld the impossible, she could no longer look at her ordinary life in the same way. She needed to feel that way again; needed to see more places, wider skies. She wanted to explore every inch of that confounding TARDIS. And she missed the Doctor. Missed his long-winded, meandering narration about each place they visited. Missed his self-assured grin and his clever mind.

But, that was ridiculous! She hadn’t known him for very long—wasn’t she just infatuated with all he had shown her? He’d been the conduit for adventure that she had longed for her whole life. Her eyes were wide open, and she’d be damned if she’d fall back to sleep now. While she no longer went out all night searching, that didn’t mean that she had totally given up hoping he’d come back, regardless of her hurt that he might have just abandoned her. Her mother was rightfully furious with him, and would not entertain even the slightest notion of a conversation about him.

So, back to work it was until she could think of a better plan than just wishing on the stars.

 

Rose slid off the lap of an affluent gentleman who’d been going on and on about his work as a lawyer in San Francisco. When he protested with a firm hand on her waist, she flashed him her most reassuring, flirtatious smile, kissed his cheek and slipped out of his grasp. She stepped up to the piano and leaned against it, fluttering her eyelashes over her shoulder as the pianist struck up a playful melody. Her hip bobbed to the rhythm of the music, and several tables broke out in whistles and hollers once she spun to face her audience. Her voice rose up above the clamor and she began to sing.

Rose slid her blue silk-gloved fingertips along the wood of the piano as she sang and leaned into the caress. Her body arched to the side and her other hand slid up her body then flourished overhead, before she drew herself up straight with a stomp of her heeled shoe, punctuating a strong beat in the music. She turned around and leaned over a bit, shimmying her hips. The cascade of draped fabric—peacock hues tonight—swayed from her bustle, no doubt calling attention to the swell of her bum. More whistles pealed out over the jubilant crowd, and she turned to step down from the piano platform so she could slink amid the tables.

She followed her usual routine—wandering by the bar and over to the stairs for the loft. Under the loft would be her next place to pause as the music shifted back to the chorus. Some men were lucky receivers of shoulder caresses or hip bumps as she made her way through—while others appeared equally as enthusiastic about playful shoves or an indifferent toss of her hair. Rose grinned as the raunchy chorus riled them up even more, and she spun around to tease the man behind her only to find herself standing before the Doctor himself.

Rose’s entire act fell apart at the seams. She maintained the song with only a slight vocal waver, but her balance became questionable as she backed away from him. He watched her with such rapt interest, but she couldn’t be near him if she wanted to finish the song. She stumbled slightly and turned away.  As long as she couldn’t see him she found that she could smile again. Thankfully, the song came to an end just moments later and she had worked the crowd enough for her little misstep to go largely unnoticed. Her face flushed hot with embarrassment as she left the saloon swiftly to retreat to her parlor. A quick, sharp glance in Mickey’s direction on the way by indicated to him that she demanded to be alone.

She swept into her parlor and shut the door behind her. How could she go out there again? How could she face him? Whatever did he expect? Rose paced the small space as she tried to gather her guts to go out there and give him a good tongue lashing. How dare he just show up out of the blue like that?

A knock at her door drew her abruptly from her thoughts.

“Who is it?” Rose snapped, a little harsher than she’d like.

“That Lawyer is requesting your company. He’s getting a bit belligerent,” Mickey’s voice responded on the other side. “You all right?”

Rose sighed. “I’ll be right out…” The show must go on. She sat before her boudoir and inspected her reflection. She looked up to keep the angry tears at bay. Habitually, she touched up her powder, rouge and perfume. She fixed a snag in her skirt and tilted the peacock feather in her hair just so. Leaning over slightly, she adjusted her breasts in the confines of her corset, and then stood.

Rose strode from her parlor, chin high to conjure strength, but stopped dead in her tracks outside of her door. Waiting at the threshold between the back hall and the front of the saloon was none other than the Doctor.

“I thought you’d left town,” Rose said, eclipsed by his long shadow.

The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets and regarded her with unfettered fascination. “I’ll be outside if you want to talk.”

Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“I deserved that, I reckon. Just—I’ll be outside.”  He tipped his hat, and then spun around to make his exit.

Rose didn’t respond, just watched him swagger off like he knew she’d be completely unable to resist following him. Who in hell did he think he was? Rose decided she’d let him wait for her this time.  Commotion out in the bar was a sharp reminder that her presence had been requested. She exhaled and fluttered her eyelashes as she switched to her temptress façade, then glided back out to the saloon floor.

///

The Doctor had parked his stagecoach across the street just far enough to avoid the glow of gaslights, but close enough to be spotted by Rose. He leaned against his TARDIS, boot resting back on the step and hands shoved deep into his duster pockets. A few folks milled about in the streets, but most were either heading home or to Henrik’s. Thankfully, no one paid him any mind, though he got a few curious stares as they read the side of his stagecoach: _Temporal Obscura, a traveling apothecary of rare cures and tinctures._   Sometimes he’d actually be called on to play the role of a crafter and peddler of obscure medicinal cures, and he’d do so with great enthusiasm and purpose, but it was all a show. He had to fit in somehow.

An hour passed, and then another. He patiently watched as patrons stumbled out of the saloon and made their ways home. Finally, as the night’s banter tapered off and the saloon staff had begun to clean up the place, he saw Rose’s shadowed form standing in the glow of a window. She ducked away almost as soon as he caught sight of her, and he worried she’d decided to shun him after all. Not that he didn’t think he deserved it—he did, but that wouldn’t keep him from trying.

He pushed away from the TARDIS and started to walk around to climb into the driver’s box, when a cough caught his attention. He looked over his shoulder, hand gripping the rail, ready to pull himself up and aboard.

“Rose,” the Doctor said, and dropped his hand from the rail to turn fully towards her.

“Why’d you disappear?” Rose drew her coat and shawl around herself tightly, more to cover her exposed skin than to protect herself from cold.

“Thought it would be better if I skipped town for a bit,” he said with a shrug. “I made a huge mistake; I was careless. People thought you were dead.”

Rose sighed and walked up closer to him. “Well, that wagon of yours can take us anywhere. Why couldn’t you just take us back a year and it’ll be like it never happened?”

“It was too late,” the Doctor smiled a bit as she seemed to grasp the nature of his style of travel a bit more than he’d given her credit for. His smile faded though as he continued. “You had already been seen. The sequence of events solidified, so, it would’ve created a paradox.”

“A para-what?”

“A paradox. An event that can’t exist based on pre-established cause-and-effect—and yet it does. It works from there like a hair-thin crack in glass, branching out over time until everything shatters.”

Rose looked away from him, eyebrows drawn together in discontent. He watched as a breeze rustled through her hair and fluttered the feather on her head. Even in anger she was beautiful.

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor offered, hoping she’d look at him again. “How’s your mother?”

“She’s fine. Still angry. She’ll be mad as a wet hen if she knew I was talking to you now.”

The Doctor chuckled. “She’d be even more upset if she knew I’m about to ask if you want to come with me again.”

Rose laughed, incredulous. “You can’t be serious? It just won’t happen. I’ve got my mother and my job. And you left. Why should I trust you?”

The Doctor smirked, though her words stung a little. “You probably shouldn’t. But—I’d love your company. Another chance? What do you say? I’ll let you pick where we go next, and I promise to be more careful. Well, mostly careful. ”

“I want to see the Milky Way,” Rose said, avoiding eye contact. “I’ve heard it’s beautiful. Like a river of stars so close together it makes you want to swim through it.”

“So, you’ll come with me?”

“Only if I’m able to come along with her,” intruded a male voice.

The Doctor looked over Rose’s shoulder to see that Mickey had joined them. He was surprised at the other man’s apparent knack for stealth. Though it could’ve been more possible that a certain pair of glittering brown eyes had proved to be a right potent distraction.

Rose whirled around, surprised as the Doctor was that he had approached without being noticed. “Mickey—I  wasn’t—”

“It’s okay. I know you’ve been pining for this fancy-pants idiot.” Mickey shot a glare in the Doctor’s direction.

Rose’s cheeks turned red. “I haven’t—”

“Oh, spare me, Rose. You go out at night to look for him.”

The Doctor rocked back on his heels, grinning. “Is that so?”

Rose glared at both of them. “Oh, shut up. Not anymore.”

The Doctor tugged at his ear as he looked between Rose and Mickey. As much as he wanted to take Rose along with him alone, it’d probably go a long way in his favor if he brought Mickey to prove that Rose was safe. He couldn’t help but feel weary about whatever Mickey’s history might’ve been with Rose, though. He sighed. “Anyone’s welcome to travel with me. We’ll be back before sunrise—and you’re welcome to think about it if you want.”

Rose chewed on her bottom lip and scuffed the dirt road with her shoe. “Mickey, you’d love it out there. Maybe mom’ll feel better about it if she knew you had been along with us.”

“It’s settled then,” said the Doctor. “Climb aboard. The Milky Way is our first stop.” He grinned as he swung up to the driver’s box.

Rose smiled brightly and followed him up. “I can’t wait!”

Mickey hesitated and looked back at the Saloon. “You promise we’ll be back by morning?”

“At the very least by tomorrow afternoon.” The Doctor leaned over and inspected the knobs and gears of his control panel. “I’ll aim for earlier, of course.”

“I should warn you that I’m heeled. Nothin’ better happen to her, or me for that matter,” said Mickey as he slowly climbed up to squeeze beside Rose in the driver’s box.

The Doctor noted the gun at Mickey’s hip, then looked up at the sky.  His mind picked up a temporal thread from another reality in the enigma of the cosmos. “Somehow I thought you’d be more of a coward. Ah, well. Off we go.”


	4. The Educational Reunion

The Doctor guided his worn, blue stagecoach up to a large shade tree just outside the arched sign that announced the town’s name in freshly painted, white letters. Deffry Vale.  Mickey had read in a newspaper a couple towns back that there had been a few mysterious disappearances of children in Deffry Vale, so they decided to make their way over to investigate. From the outside, the town was pristine. Not a single post or rail in the perimeter fence was out of place. The main road was clear of horse droppings and not a splinter or knot marred the smooth wooden buildings. Rose hopped down from the driver’s box, followed by the Doctor. Rose wandered forward a bit, taking in the sight before her with a heavy measure of scrutiny.

“Looks like this place was built overnight,” said Mickey, frowning, as he joined Rose and the Doctor.

“And It certainly wasn’t,” said the Doctor as he tied up the reins and stroked the horse’s muzzle. “In fact, it’s one of the oldest in the area. Founded by a young man who struck gold around twenty-five years ago. It was quite small back then, but ever since the advent of trains and the railway, it has bloomed nicely. Becomes a large city in, oh, fifty years or so. Helps that they divert a portion of the river to irrigate crops. In fact…”

Rose kept her eyes on the town, barely listening as the Doctor exercised his gob. She watched instead as the town bustled—women and men weaving carefully around one another in a strange, syncopated dance. Their clothing was dark and pristine, unfaded by the sun or dust. Even the people were immaculate. It was like watching a dream. So entranced at the peculiarity, Rose barely noticed that the Doctor had been calling her name.

“Rose!” said the Doctor with an edge of irritation to his voice.

“Sorry. This place is powerful spooky,” said Rose, shaking out of her trance.

“Yeah, you saw that, too. We’ll be noticed right away if we just wander in like this. They’re wearing the most current fashion straight out of the Old States. We’re a bit behind. Was telling Mickey that we need a cover when you drifted off. Don’t want anyone to notice that we’re searching the place.”

“What’s your plan once we’re in town?” asked Rose, though she should know by now that he never quite had a plan.

///

_Two days later…_

Rose cut the Doctor a glare that should’ve curled his toenails, but all he did was smile back at her. 

“Not what I had in mind when you said we should go under cover,” she grumbled and stirred a nearby pot. “Two days of this.”

The Doctor lifted his chin, smile broadening as he slipped his thumbs into his pockets and wandered over to her. “Blame Mickey, he’s the one who put us on to this mystery.”

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes as she wiped sweat from her brow on her sleeve. Cooking was something she’d do if she had to, but never for more than her mother and herself. Sometimes Mickey. Definitely not for a schoolhouse full of children and teachers. She had several pots going on an outdoor stone hearth and a spread of vegetables and bread on a nearby table. It was too much work for one person, and she doubted she could have it all ready in an hour. Her first day had been a disaster, but she was getting better.

The Doctor moved closer, peering over her shoulder. “Anything I should avoid today?”

Rose scrunched her face at him. “Shouldn’t you be up there, inspiring young minds? Isn’t it unseemly for an upstanding male teacher to be buzzing around the cookmaid?”

He just grinned wider. “I’m not the one who’d get in trouble.”

Rose wanted to slap that smug look right off his face. But he was standing so close to her, and it took all of her will to prevent herself from leaning against that scratchy suit of his and breathing him in.

“Recess,” he said simply with a shrug. He plucked a bite of the boiled potatoes and made a face. “Tastes a bit odd.”

“Really? I think they’re delicious. Can’t stop sneaking bites.” Rose swatted at his hands to keep them from further invading her pots. “Hands off or there’ll be none left!”

“Heed your own advice, miss Tyler,” the Doctor smirked and caught her hand. He held onto it lingeringly as he began to step away.  “We’ll need lunch in about an hour.” He looked down at her hand and let it slip out of his. “I’ll remind the other teachers to send out a few helpers.” And with that, he turned and made his way inside the back door of the schoolhouse.

Rose watched him go, and as the door shut behind him, she finally remembered to breathe.

The Doctor seemed to enjoy this lifestyle, and of course he would. He had secured a respectable teaching position in one of the upper level classrooms. He was able to sit and eat lunch with the rest of the school, and largely avoided any manual labor. Not to mention, he was also desperately needed. 

When he had arrived to inspect school a couple days prior, he found the place in a bit of a bizarre, cheery panic. A town this size, and growing, needed more than just a one room schoolhouse on a hill. This school boasted five classrooms and an office for the Headmaster.  But things had turned upside down when a teacher went missing three weeks ago. She was one of the founding teachers, and it was her chosen responsibility to stoke the potbelly stoves on cold days to warm the classrooms, to tend to injured or sick students, dole out morning and afternoon chores and to ensure that lunch was prepared each day.  The town officials had smiled through their troubled tale as though it were about as pesky as a plate of cold beans, but  had accepted their help readily. The Doctor’s plan soon emerged. Rose took over the majority of the missing teacher’s role while the Doctor investigated from the inside and Mickey blended into the town proper.

Rose grabbed the butter that she’d been instructed to add to each dish, and cut off a bit more for the potatoes, and then began the task of preparing the pots for transfer.

///

After cleaning the dishes and prepping food for the following day, Rose wandered outside hoping to catch a few moments of rest.  The children were already heading home, but her day was far from over. She still had to head back inside and help the other teachers close the building down for the evening.  The Doctor soon caught her eye as he stood by an apple tree watching the last of the children playing in the schoolyard. On beautiful, sun-drenched days, the children preferred to spend as much time outside as possible, even if it meant lingering on the school grounds, since going home always meant chores.

But, Rose’s eyes weren’t focused on them, not even remotely. A strand of hair fluttered in her face after slipping from her bun and she distractedly tucked it behind her ear. She probably looked a right mess, but all that mattered was that the Doctor’s pinstriped suit was dappled by the sun filtering through the leaves of the apple tree.  He ran a hand through his hair and she imagined her hands slipping through it instead. She wondered what was on his mind and realized she’d been smiling to herself.

The Headmaster then emerged from a door on the other end of the schoolhouse and called some of the children back inside. Rose observed as the Doctor kept a keen eye trained on the Headmaster’s retreating form, two boys and a girl in tow. She could tell that he was on to something, and that brought a smile to her face. The last frozen tendrils of hurt over his vanishing act had finally begun to melt away.  Drawn to him by some ancient force (gravity seemed too tidy), she barely realized she’d taken steps towards him before she stopped abruptly.

A Native woman, accompanied by Mickey, arrived on horseback and came to a stop near the Doctor. Rose watched as they dismounted and the woman rushed to the Doctor’s side. The Doctor flung his arms around her and they spun in an enthusiastic embrace. Mickey grinned from beneath his hat as he led the horse to the hitching post nearby.

A wiry coated, grey dog bounded up to the Doctor, tail wagging joyously. The Doctor knelt down to scratch behind the dog’s ears as his face was bathed in dog kisses.  He wiped his face as he stood and reached out to hold the woman at arm’s length again, his smile so very bright.

Rose bristled, unsure if she should approach or hang back. _Focus…_ she scolded herself as she simultaneously clenched the frill of her food-smudged apron. Who was this woman? How did she know the Doctor?  Why did it matter so much?  No longer able to keep curiosity at bay, she crossed the schoolyard, determined to find out.

“Rose!” the Doctor declared cheerily upon her approach.

Rose smiled briefly, but her eyes remained fixed on the new woman. She was lovely, albeit a bit older than she expected from a distance. Her gray-streaked, black hair was pulled back in two long braids. She wore doeskin leggings beneath a long doeskin dress adorned with striped beading at the hem. Her canine companion moved to her side and leaned against her as Rose approached.

“Who’s she?” Rose said without smiling. She knew she was being petulant, but she’d feel guilty about that later.

“Rose, Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane, Rose,” introduced the Doctor, gesturing to both in turn. He kept a delighted smile stitched on his face as he rocked back on his heels.

Sarah Jane smiled thinly and reached out to shake Rose’s hand. “Nice to meet you…” She let go and directed her next comment to the Doctor. “You can tell you’re getting older. Your assistants are getting younger.”

Rose kept her scrutiny intact after that. “I’m not his _assistant_.”

Sarah Jane nodded. “No?” Again, she quipped to the Doctor: “Get you, stallion.”

The Doctor’s hand drifted to the back of his head as he glanced between the two women. “Ah, I think we should—“

“I don’t mean to be rude, but who exactly are you?” Rose said through a forced smile.

“Sarah Jane. I used to travel with the Doctor,” she replied, an air of pride in her tone.

“Oh, he’s never mentioned you.” Rose knew she was pushing it.  She just had to understand this woman’s place—her role in the Doctor’s life. Jealousy brimmed inside and she would rather confront the issue head on than let it fester.

“Oh, must have. Sarah Jane—I mention her all the time,” the Doctor said as his hand resumed the usual nervous pathway: scratching the back of his head, tugging on his ear, rubbing his nose.

Rose looked up in exaggerated recollection. “Hm. Hold on… sorry—never.”

Sarah Jane’s pride melted away. Her face fell and her shoulders slouched. “Not even once?”

“Nope.”

“He didn’t mention me once?”

Rose tried to avert her eyes at distressed waver in Sarah Jane’s voice. _Here comes the guilt._ But she said nothing.

Mickey joined the trio and gave the Doctor a firm smack on his shoulder, chuckling. “Oh-ho! The missus and the ex! Welcome to every man’s worst nightmare.”

The Doctor just stared blankly up at the sky, his mouth a thin line.

Rose kept her eyes trained on the ground as Sarah Jane folded her arms across her chest. Neither woman wanted to be the first to speak.

Mickey eased away the awkwardness by clearing his throat to change the subject. “I came across miss Sarah Jane here while investigating in town. Turns out she’s been doing a bit of searching herself.”

Sarah Jane nodded. “Yes, I came to town because word had spread that children were going missing. A couple of Cheyenne children come to this school and as a Society Sister it is my responsibility to make sure they’re safe.”

Rose felt better now that they were focused on the case. She released in a long sigh all of the emotion that’d been buzzing inside of her when she first laid eyes on how the Doctor hugged Sarah Jane. Clearly, they were close at one time. It appeared to be the sort of closeness that she found herself longing for with the Doctor, and yet it had ended somehow. He had never mentioned her at all. Rose chewed on her lip as Mickey and Sarah Jane went over their information.

“It’s not just the children,” said Mickey. “Go on, tell ‘em.”

Sarah nodded and lowered her voice. “At night, I’ve observed adults out in the town making repairs and cleaning up the roads. They don’t respond; they just work. They appear to be in a trance, and return to their homes when their tasks are complete.” She paused and looked up towards the school. “I—think we should discuss this in a more neutral setting.”

Rose followed Sarah Jane’s gaze and noticed the silhouette of the Headmaster in the window of his office. Watching. He was a strange man—in fact; he was the one who had been insistent on her adding that butter to the noon meal. But, he was _too_ suspicious. Too obvious. Or perhaps she had just become so much less trustful.

“I have to do a few things before I can leave,” said Rose.

The Doctor waved his hand. “Bah, leave it. We’re not going to be here much longer anyway.”

Rose laughed. “Are you condoning the shirking of responsibilities, Doctor?”

“Oh, never.  Well, sometimes. I simply don’t consider those things to be your responsibility,” he winked. “The safety of the children and this town, however... Still not our responsibility, I suppose, but we should do something.”

“A broader perspective; I understand,” Rose grinned at him, tongue poking through her teeth.

The Doctor inhaled and his eyes searched her face, settling on her grin. “And this is more exciting.” He exhaled and looked away from her towards town.

“Let’s be off then.” Rose looked back at the school and saw that the Headmaster was no longer at the window.

///

The walk to town normally wasn’t that long, but they had to take a round-about path to El’s Saloon where Mickey said he had found Sarah Jane. El’s was established and run by a former slave; therefore it resided in the part of town relegated for people of color to conduct business. The war was over and slavery abolished, but attitudes remained strong. Even along this indirect path, a few harsh epithets and crude sexual taunts were shouted from windows. Sarah looked straight ahead the whole time, but Rose could tell that she was actively deflecting the harsh words with every step. Her persistence was her armor. Mickey was less often a subject of such hatred in his own town, but here…

Rose took a breath, ready to shout something up to the cowards in the windows, but Mickey stopped her. “Don’t,” he said. “Just keep walking.”

“After looking into things more,” Sarah Jane continued from where she’d left off, ignoring the background noise, “I found that this town has experienced a population boom in recent months. Families from rural areas are moving in as they hear how clean and prosperous things have become. There are even plans to add on to the school.”

“But people aren’t allowed to leave,” added Mickey. “I’ve heard people complaining in the saloon.”

Sarah Jane nodded. “Telegrams are monitored. Letters are opened and read. Visitors may leave, but they are closely watched. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re being watched right now.”

“Think it’s safe for us to talk about all this?” asked Rose.

Sarah Jane looked around. “We should be all right.”

Mickey joined in. “Should be safe at El’s place, anyhow. Most of the town officials avoid it at least.”

Finally, they reached the part of town that held their destination. It was not as well-kept, but Rose found it a lot more welcoming that way. They arrive at the saloon just as the sun began to set, drowning everything in a hazy orange glow. The Doctor remained outside with Sarah Jane as she hitched her horse. Mickey and Rose headed on in to find a table. They stopped briefly at the bar to order a round and Rose had to spend a bit of time fighting off desperate advances. Brought on memories of back home when men would just stop in their tracks to gawk at her and her mother hanging laundry. By the time they turned to the tables, the Doctor and Sarah Jane had already found one. They sat next to each other, engrossed in conversation. Sarah’s dog sat by the Doctor’s side, tail wagging to and fro across the sawdust littered floor.

“You should be proud of me for not saying I told you so,” said Mickey close to Rose’s ear. He followed his vocal jab with an equally irritating elbow version.

Rose sighed. “I’m not listening to this.”

“All this time you’ve insisted he’s different. Even after he up and left you for all those weeks. Did you forget about that? Truth is, he ain’t special. He’s just like any other rooster.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Rose, though she felt unsure. It wasn’t like Mickey was one to tie to back when they had a thing going. She decided to sit separately from the Doctor and Sarah Jane to give them a bit of space after leaving a plate of food at their table. Their conversation looked private and emotional, what with how Sarah Jane’s fixed the Doctor with such big, tear-stung eyes. Mickey sat down with her and kept talking, but she wasn’t listening, not to him.

“I waited for you. I missed you.” Sarah Jane’s voice met Rose’s ears as she turned ever so slightly to focus.

“Oh, you didn’t need me. You were getting on with your life,” said the Doctor.

“You were my life. Do you know how hard it is to get on after traveling around to such incredible places, you showing me the length and breadth of the world? Took me to lands only mentioned in fables.  Places that don’t even exist yet! What could ever compare to that? Then you just dropped me home and I never saw you again.”

“Do you want me to apologize for everything you saw?”  The Doctor sighed.

“No, but to see and feel that there’s so much more to the world…far beyond our wildest imaginings. To touch distant lives and make a real difference, and then it all just stops the moment you walk away. You could have come back.”

Rose fought the urge to just turn right around and stare at the two of them as they spoke. She could hear years of sorrow in Sarah’s voice and practically felt the tension flowing from the Doctor in waves.

“I couldn’t come back,” the Doctor said finally.

“Why not?” Sarah Jane pressed.

 Doctor grabbed a forkful of food and stuffed it in his mouth. “Tastes odd. Have you tried any yet?”

Sarah Jane’s dog sat up and tilted his head.

“Why don’t you give it a try, old boy,” the Doctor said affectionately to the dog as he put the plate on the ground. He sniffed at the proffered food, but refused to take a bite.

“Interesting,” said Sarah Jane.

The Doctor stood, picked up the plate and placed it back to the table. He moved over to where Rose and Mickey were sitting. “Rose, this has the same strange aftertaste as the food you were preparing for the school. Have you noticed anything else odd in that regard?”

“I was told to put this special butter in every dish. It really brings out the flavors—I could eat it straight,” said Rose.

“Might want to skip that,” said Mickey with a smirk.

Rose rolled her eyes; Mickey was having too much fun with this.

“What’s fifty nine times thirty five?” asked the Doctor.

“Two thousand and sixty five. Oh, my God.” Rose’s eyes grew wide.

“So the children are being fed this butter to make them smarter. But, what of the adults? They don’t seem smarter. They’re just out fixing up the town. Why make the children smarter?” mused Sarah Jane.

“I don’t know, but the answer is back at the school. Let’s go,” the Doctor swept out of the saloon and into the street.  Rose followed him outside. Dusk had fallen swiftly over the town, with nothing left of the sunset sky but a thin gradient of lavender on the distant horizon.  The moon drifted overhead, full and bright. Rose approached the Doctor hesitantly.

“Streets are empty,” said the Doctor as Rose joined him. “Wonder when they all come out to do their creepy cleanup jobs.”

“Doct--,” Rose began, but her voice got caught in her throat, tangled on nerves. The Doctor looked down at her, waiting for her to continue. She swallowed and pressed on. “How many of us have there been traveling with you?”

The Doctor looked away, back to the streets.  “Does it matter?”

“Yes, it does matter. Matters if I’m just the latest in a long line,” Rose said. No turning back now. She’d lay bare her concerns, even if it meant getting her heart broken. It was a risk to press him right now after he’d just been pressed by Sarah.

“As opposed to what?” The Doctor shot back at her, clearly annoyed by the line of questioning as Rose predicted. 

“I thought you and me… I thought we were—I obviously got it wrong. I’ve gone to the ends of the earth with you, but this? This is really seein’ the future. You just leave us behind.” Rose did not take her eyes off of him. She would not. She’d forever remember this very moment as the moment when she realized she had fallen in love with him. Oh, she’d been in love with him for a while—it only took the thought of him leaving her forever to own up to it.

“No. Not to you,” the Doctor said, softer this time. He brought his gaze back to her, searched her eyes.

Rose blinked at the intensity in his stare, thankful her eyes hadn’t filled with tears. “But, Sarah Jane? You were close to her once, and now you never even mention her. Why not?”

The Doctor turned to face her fully. He reached out and brushed a few strands of hair from her face with his thumb. “Rose, I don’t age. I… There’s a lot you don’t know about me. You’ve accepted me at face value without prodding into my past, and I was drawn to you for that. My past is an ugly thing, and I spend most of my time running away from it. The way you see the world… I miss that. I miss having that perspective. I don’t mention the people I’ve left behind, because it hurts, all right? Humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine that happening to someone who you…”

“What, Doctor?” Rose said, her voice barely above a whisper. His hand was cool against her face and she tilted her head ever so slightly against it.

“You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can’t spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on. Alone. It’s the curse of my people. And I’m all that’s left of them.”

“I do want to learn more about you,” Rose said as he carefully withdrew his hand.

The Doctor smiled, though his eyes held immense, ageless sorrow. He opened his mouth to reply, when a scream pierced the quiet street. It originated from between two buildings nearby.  The Doctor rushed toward the sound, while Rose caught Mickey and Sarah Jane’s attention from the window so they could follow.

Rose reached the alley in time to find the Doctor fighting off a winged, humanoid creature. Rose was too shocked to scream—it looked like a gargoyle come to life.  Movement to her left alerted her to the presence of a young boy who huddled against the building, trembling in fear. Rose rushed to the boy’s side to console him while Mickey and Sarah Jane helped the Doctor fend off the creature’s taloned swipes.  Sarah Jane’s dog barreled into the alley and leapt at the creature, jaws biting into a flailing leg. The creature took a few blows to the side and head before it gave up. The dog let go as the creature shrieked and pumped its bat-like wings once to hurl itself into the sky. Within moments, it was gone.

A few patrons from the saloon spilled out on the porch to inspect the commotion. Rose and the Doctor helped the boy stand, and he leaned against Rose, arms flung around her waist.

Rose got down to his level and brushed dirt from his shirt and hair, all the while checking for scrapes or bruises. “It’s gone now, it’s gone. Are you all right?” She heard the Doctor tell Mickey and Sarah Jane to deal with the onlookers as he stood to block their view.

The boy sniffled and his breath hitched as he grew calmer in Rose’s presence. “It hurt my arm,” he said weakly, offering up the injured arm for her inspection. Sure enough, there was a gash in his sleeve, but the skin underneath had only a minor scratch.

“Looks like it’ll be right as rain in no time,” Rose said with a reassuring smile. “What’s your name?”

“Kenny,” said the boy.

“Can you tell us what happened?” asked the Doctor. Mickey and Sarah Jane joined them as they finished with the onlookers.

Kenny looked up at all of them, hesitating. Rose gave him a reassuring pat on the back and he sighed. “I was trying to find my sister. She never came home from school today.”

“Where are your parents?” asked Mickey.

The boy shrugged. “Home…”

“All right, we need to get to the school. Whatever’s going on needs to be stopped,” said the Doctor. “Mickey, stay with the boy. Rose, Sarah—with me.”

Mickey huffed, but accepted his duty as the boy looked up at him with such big eyes. “Would you like to go get some grub?” Mickey asked.

The boy nodded.

“Good,” said the Doctor. “Find out what you can from him, gently. Meet us at the school if you haven’t heard from us in an hour,” the Doctor instructed, and nodded to Rose and Sarah Jane. “Ready?”

Rose gave the boy another reassuring squeeze, then stood with a nod. “Ready.”

///

The Doctor, Sarah Jane and Rose reached the darkened school a while later. Silence surrounded them, not a sound emanated from the school.

“Seems like nobody’s there,” whispered Rose. Of course, that didn’t make things any less intimidating. She was thankful that the moon was full, providing plenty of light for them to see if anyone else lurked about.

“Seems, yes. Both of you, go check the first floor. Make note of anything you find suspicious. Here, you might need this.” The Doctor withdrew his harmonic screwdriver from his coat pocket.

Rose reached out her hand to accept it, but he had it held out for Sarah Jane.

“What are you going to do?” asked Sarah.

“It’s time I had a word with the Headmaster.” With that, the Doctor stalked off towards the school.

Rose had a difficult time remaining unaffected by what had just happened. There was a job to do, and this business with the disappearing children and the bat creatures was powerful important. But her resolve was fracturing each time she felt the undercurrent of affection between the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

Rose and Sarah began their search through the downstairs school rooms. A few minutes of search produced nothing out of the ordinary, until Sarah Jane came across an unusual device in the storage room.

“Rose, come and look at this,” she whispered.

Rose hurried over and knelt down to inspect the object. It was a box of smooth, polished wood, fitted on top with dials and tiny levers that were connected by a series of thin pipes and cogs. There was a brass latch on the front, which Sarah had been struggling to open with the harmonic screwdriver.

“It’s not working,” Sarah said in exasperation.

“Give it to me.” Rose held out her hand and Sarah reluctantly placed it in her palm.

“Used to work first time in my day.”

“Things were a lot simpler then, I reckon.” Rose quipped, but realized that she had never used it before herself as the words left her mouth.  Thankfully, her fingers managed to find the right button to press to make it light up. She aimed it at the latch on the curious box and it whirred as she pressed it closer. With a click, the latch opened and the box cracked open a sliver.

“Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?” Sarah Jane said as she sat back on her heels.

“I got a feeling you’re about to,” Rose muttered as she slid her finger along the seam of the lid and gently pried it open. Nothing inside but a complex network of gears, more piping and what looked like a music box spindle.

“I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don’t want you to feel I’m intruding.”

“I don’t feel threatened by you.” Rose glared up at her, but quickly looked away as she found the older woman watching her as a mother watches her misbehaving child. “If that’s what you mean…” she added.

“Good, because I’m not interested in picking up where we left off,” Sarah said.

Rose clenched her teeth at the flood of images that filled her mind. _Where had they left off, exactly?_ “No? Then what’s with the big sad eyes whenever you look at him?”

Sarah Jane sighed. “He didn’t even say goodbye, Rose. You’ve longed for closure at some point in your life, have you not?”

“I—of course…” Rose recalled vividly the weeks spent wondering if the Doctor would ever return. She hated how wrapped up she felt over one man, but he had shown her that a better life was out there, waiting for her to make an active choice in its existence.

“He showed me things you wouldn’t believe.”

“Try me,” said Rose.

“A city made of glass and metal. People travelled in carriages that flew in the air,” Sarah Jane looked up in memory.

“Yeah? I saw curtains of green light flare across the sky in a world covered in snow,” Rose challenged.

“Pyramids in Egypt—as they were being built.”

“An ancient city that is currently drowned in the sea, but when it was alive with people and smells and sounds.”

“Metal men who think and walk on their own.” Sarah crossed her arms at that.

“We saved a town of people from being engulfed by a huge prairie fire!”

“Real live dinosaurs,” Sarah Jane said, emphasizing each word.

Rose blinked. “Seriously?” She shook her head and pressed the heel of her hand against her brow. “Listen to us. Tryin’ to best each other like this, over a man!”

“You and I both know he’s not just any man. Does he still talk to and caress that old blue stagecoach?”

Rose laughed. “Yes! I feel like saying, ‘do you two want to be alone?’”

It was Sarah Jane’s turn to laugh. Little did they know, the Doctor had ducked his head into the doorway.

“How are things?” he said. “I heard laughter…”

They both kept laughing.

“What? Listen, did you find anything?” He looked at both of them in turn, eyebrows knitting.

Rose leaned against Sarah Jane as she was overcome with a fit of giggles. The Doctor just looked so adorable when he was flustered.

“What? Stop it! What have you found?”

Rose stopped laughing long enough to offer up the peculiar box. “This is all.”

The Doctor took the box carefully and inspected it, top to bottom and inside. He held out his hand as he pursed his lips and squinted at some component or other. Rose placed the harmonic screwdriver in his hand. He continued to prod at the box as he aimed the screwdriver at it seemingly at random. It cranked to life and emitted little tapping and clicking noises.

“Ahh, interesting. I think I’ve finally figured out who’s responsible for all this. Haven’t run into the Krillitane in, oh… centuries,” said the Doctor, running his fingertips gently along the smooth box edge. He set the box down as he changed a setting on his screwdriver and resumed aiming it at the box. He waited a moment and shook his head.

“Centuries? You weren’t kidding when you said you don’t age.” Rose stood and smoothed out her skirts.

“Follow me,” said the Doctor as he snapped the lid shut, gathered up the box, stuffed his harmonic screwdriver in his pocket and left the room.

Sarah Jane and Rose exchanged a glance and followed him out of the storage room and up the stairwell that led to the second floor. They reached the end of the hall, where the Doctor had stopped. He was looking ahead at the attic door while turning a few dials in the box, an ear tilted towards the door.

“Rose, hold this.” The Doctor placed the box in Rose’s outstretched arms. He aimed his harmonic screwdriver at the attic door and it clicked as it unlocked. “Follow me, and be careful.”

They entered, pressing the door open slowly, and climbed up the narrow staircase. A strange humming sound met their ears, and the atmosphere felt alive with energy. The Doctor peered over the edge of the floor. Rose joined him and had to bite her lip to keep from gasping out loud. The entire room was outlined in copper pipes that all connected to a large, rectangular moving picture on the far wall. Below that flickering image of ever-changing symbols was a larger version of the small series of levers and cranks that was on top of the little box. There was also a row of buttons that were being pressed and released by an invisible hand. The space was filled with desks of children who each had the same box as Rose held, but with an attached moving picture screen. The children were staring at their screens, transfixed, yet their fingers were moving unnaturally fast as they operated the buttons and levers on the boxes before them.

Rose’s eyes grew wider as she took everything in. She felt the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder and she tore her eyes away to look up at him. He tilted his head and looked up. Her eyes followed, and her mouth dropped open. Hanging from the A-frame rafters were several creatures just like the one they had encountered in the alley back in town. They appeared to be asleep, with wings of grayish skin wrapped about themselves like horrific cocoons. Neither the children nor the creatures noticed their presence.

Rose felt a peculiar sensation prick at the edge of her perception. It was unnerving and made her skin crawl, but it pressed inward, invading her mind. Soon, she was awash in a calming sensation as the Doctor’s voice filled her head.

_Rose, I am so sorry for intruding this way without asking first, but I need to give you instruction without calling attention to ourselves._

Rose closed her eyes as her nerves were alight with the vibrations of his voice in her head. She nodded lazily.

_I’m going to go in and destroy the primary machine that links all of these together. I tried to infect the box you’re holding with a program that would shut down the other—my clever guess that there were others—but, it didn’t work. I’ve had my eye on this locked door for days, but was afraid to inspect it mentally as I sensed the presence of beings capable of primitive telepathic ability._

Rose simply nodded. She’d like him to continue talking to her like this, from the inside, for as long as he liked. It felt intimate beyond anything she’d ever experienced, though, strangely, not threatening or inappropriate. She’d have to ask him about this later as well.

The Doctor continued: _When the children wake, you and Sarah need to quickly usher them downstairs. The Krillitane will also wake and I’ll deal with them. Just get the children to safety. I’m telling Sarah the same thing._

Rose swayed as his presence left her mind. She glanced at Sarah Jane, who appeared far less affected. The older woman nodded at her to affirm that she had received the message as well. Rose set the box down quietly and waited for the impending chaos.

The Doctor crept up the remaining stairs and quietly maneuvered through the closely packed desks toward the machine on the far wall. He gave it a brief once-over, before he aimed his screwdriver at a few of the controls and then pulled on the steam valve. The machine began to shake and whistle as it overloaded. The children fell out of their trance once their screens went dark, and they glanced around in bewilderment.

Rose and Sarah had to act fast. They swiftly climbed the stairs and helped the children down one by one just as the Krillitanes overhead screeched awake. They swiped the air with their powerful wings and shook their heads, evidently disoriented from being awoken. The last few children were guided out just as the creatures found their wits and began to attack. A heavy blow from a wing knocked Rose against the railing and she nearly fell down the stairs, but caught herself just in time.

“Doctor!” Rose cried out as she watched several of the monsters descend on him.

“Just go downstairs, Rose!”

Rose looked down at the retreating form of Sarah Jane, who had helped the last child out into the hallway below. She then heard the trill of the harmonic screwdriver, followed by a loud pop and one of the creatures flew back over her head and slammed against the rafters above. She realized that three other creatures had broken away from the Doctor and were headed for her. Without further hesitation, she nearly leapt down the remaining stairs and into the hallway, slamming the door behind her. She reached the far end of the second floor. One beast tore his way through the door easily and went into the nearest classroom. Another spilled out and went into a second classroom. Rose watched, waiting for the last of the children to make it down the stairwell to the bottom floor, as yet another creature swooped into a third classroom.

The Doctor emerged from the shattered frame of the attic door soon after. “RUN!” he yelled, and tore down the hall towards Rose. Rose spun around and fled down the stairs. The Doctor’s footsteps were close behind. They reached the bottom floor to find Sarah Jane huddled in the hallway with the children.

“They’ve trapped us inside!” she cried.

Rose wondered how, until she smelled the acrid burn of smoke wafting down the hall. Fire. They heard more screeching and crashing as an explosion ripped through the attic, tearing off the roof and sending planks of flaming wood raining down on the floor above.  Another, smaller explosion rang out, and this time debris began falling to the bottom floor. A Krillitane clamored into the hall where everyone had huddled, snapped its powerful jaws and lunged.

But it fell short as a gunshot pealed through the air. Everyone turned to find Mickey standing at the end of the hall, smoking gun in hand and old, gray mutt at his side. “You folks might want to get the hell out of here now,” he said.

They ran towards him, the Doctor stepping aside to allow the children to flee first. A Krillitane stumbled its way down the stairs and landed at Rose’s feet. It had been badly burned and injured from the explosion, but still had a bit of fight left. He clawed at Rose’s black skirt, ripping a gash, before the Doctor slammed his boot into its head. It fell limp, unconscious, and Rose staggered back against the Doctor.

“All right, love?” the Doctor said as he put up a hand to brace her.

Rose nodded, barely registering what he’d called her as she went back to focusing on helping the children evacuate.

Once everyone had made it outside, safe from the burning schoolhouse, Rose found her way to Mickey. “Sharp shooting there, Mick.”

Mickey grinned and tipped his hat to her. “Thanks, miss. I was feeling a bit left out, but Kenny pointed out something to me. You see, he was just a kid trying to save his sister. He was willing to risk going against his parents and the curfew and all that. I was told to stay put, but I’ll be damned if I ain’t going to figure some way out to be useful.”

Rose gave him a warm hug and glanced over to the Doctor in time to see him drape his arm across Sarah Jane’s shoulders and pull her closer to him. Sarah smiled and wiped at her eyes as she watched the blaze engulf the school house.

Rose watched them for a bit longer and saw more than she had before. She saw a woman who had loved deeply. Loved the man and the adventure he represented. She also saw a woman who had been hurt to the very core of her soul. A woman who had learned to let go and live her life in ways that made the people around her better. Beside Sarah, Rose saw a man who cared about the love and the pain, but had experienced tragedies so profound that he could not find a tether, not in any one or any thing, even after all of his searching and all of his running. He’d said he was the last of his kind. What could have happened to make that so? Rose caught the Doctor’s eye, but neither smiled.

The fire brigade finally arrived and townsfolk were helping the men douse the flames. Their efforts wouldn’t keep the school from burning to the ground, but at least it wouldn’t spread. Parents, looking quite out of sorts themselves from being awoken from their own trances, rushed to the scene to gather their children. Rose broke away from Mickey to walk among the people and see if anyone needed help. After a while, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Sarah Jane.

“Sarah,” said Rose as she stood.

“Rose, it truly was remarkable to meet you,” Sarah said as she gave Rose a hug. “Wanted to let you know before you had to go.”

“Same, and sorry about before. You should stay. Yeah? I’m sure the Doctor wouldn’t mind. There’s more than enough room in that stagecoach, as you ‘d know.” Rose smiled.

“No need to apologize, Rose, and thank you, but no. I’d like to stay here and help rebuild. There’s also the matter of the teacher who disappeared—I think I can find her alive.”

Rose nodded. “Think I should stay with him?”

“Absolutely. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for. Find me if you need me someday.” Sarah Jane gave her another hug and walked away, her dog following close behind.

Rose felt a bit aimless after that. She ran a hand over her hair to find that most of it had fallen from the bun, so she simply plucked out the remaining pins and let her hair spill out in a golden mess over her shoulders. She was sure she’d have bruises and scrapes in the morning, but it didn’t matter now. Neither did she let thoughts linger on her mother’s inevitable rage when she finds out what had happened. She knew that she wanted to keep traveling with the Doctor and nothing would stop her.

The Doctor approached her, hands in pockets. “You were brilliant in there, Rose.”

Rose looked up to him, hoping he couldn’t see the conflicting emotions in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Want to keep traveling with me, then?”

“Wouldn’t ever want to stop,” she replied without hesitation. “As long as you don’t mind me hanging around.”

“Oh, I love your company,” he said with a grin, his demeanor flicking like a switch to his typical whimsical self. “Mickey’s too, but don’t tell him.”

Rose screwed up her face in confusion. It wasn’t a bad thing that the Doctor loved her company—nor was it that he loved Mickey’s company—but he’d put them on the same level. It stung a little, she hated to admit.

Mickey joined them upon hearing his name. “Talking about me, are you?”

The Doctor smirked. “Just talking about where we might go next.”

“Can I come? ‘Cause, I want to see what’s out there. I’m a bit tired of hearing all the wild stories from behind the bar now that I’ve been in one of my own,” Mickey said, full of hope.

“All right then. I could use a laugh,” said the Doctor, clapping him on the shoulder a bit harder than he needed to.

Mickey clapped once and did a bit of a spin in celebration, but froze as he came to face Rose. “That all right, Rose?”

Rose looked away. “Yes, of course…”

“That’s settled, then.  We should go before people notice that we’re still here,” the Doctor said as he began to walk towards the town.

Rose followed him. “You mean you don’t want anyone to know that we’re the reason their only school burnt to the ground?”

The Doctor coughed once. “Exactly.  I mean, no, well… we also saved the children. I’m not fond of ending up in papers for either reason.”

“Where are we going next?” Rose slipped her arm through his.

“I can think of a few places,” he said with a smile. “First, I want to make sure no one has made off with my TARDIS.”

“It wouldn’t be that easy, would it?”

“Course not, but you never know. Truth is I just want a warm bath and a pot of coffee.”

Rose grinned at that. “Can’t blame you one bit.”

 


	5. The Lady in the Fireplace

The Doctor’s fingers danced across the keys of a grand piano, filling the TARDIS saloon with a twinkling melody. Rose sat next to him on the bench and sang along with the tune, a huge smile on her face. She swayed with the rhythm and her eyes were alight with a joy that he wished could wash over him for the rest of his long life. The little room provided by the bench made it inevitable that their legs would touch. Even through layers of skirts, the heat from her skin felt as though it would burn him alive. He tried to focus on the keys as he tapped out the lighthearted song—something about tumbleweed blowing through the town and getting caught up in various townsfolk’s doings. Making a huge mess of things. Much like Rose and her flushed skin and the strand of hair that kept falling in her face.  He imagined her beneath him like that, and his fingers tripped over the wrong key. After that, the song was over. A few more misplayed notes and he withdrew his hands from the piano.

“Oh—sorry. Did I bump you? I was getting carried away. That’s one of my favorites,” Rose said, still beaming.

The Doctor smiled at her and it took a bit of effort to not appear wolfish. He forced his features into what he hoped would look innocent. “Why don’t you do one of your routines while I play?”

Rose shook her head emphatically. “More fun sitting here with you. Besides, my routine relies on a crowd.” She swept her hand around to indicate the empty tables surrounding them.

“That’s too bad,” said the Doctor. He didn’t quite know what else to do with his hands, so he began to play a few notes and chords of a song that hadn’t been written yet.

Rose’s smile softened and she leaned against him. “That’s lovely. Too bad it doesn’t play by itself. I’d love to dance with you.”

The Doctor continued tapping at the keys, shifting the melody to a different song. Something with a bit of depth and sadness. It took all of his strength not to slip an arm around her and pull her to his lap, so he hoped the mood of the song would inspire those thoughts to flee. “I’m not much for dancing.”

Rose placed a gloved hand on his thigh, her thumb brushing against the fabric of his pinstriped trousers. “I’d like to prove you wrong.”

The Doctor swallowed and opened his mouth to respond, but his words were erased by the slap of saloon doors against the walls. He twisted slightly to see Mickey sauntering in.

“Thought I heard music. This place is something else! I found a room filled with nothing but tea kettles. The library is bigger than all of Little London put together,” said Mickey as he made his way to the bar. He reached behind the bar top, likely feeling around for a glass. “What’s with all the tea kettles?”

Rose sighed in obvious disappointment.

“What’s wrong with a room full of tea kettles? I like tea,” said the Doctor, quickly rising to his feet. “Tea goes in kettles.”

“Usually one is enough, I’d imagine,” said Mickey.

“Maybe if you only drink one type of tea. Do you know how many types of tea there are in the entire world? The galaxy? More than I have tea kettles, mind you,” said the Doctor, purposely not looking at Rose’s lips or teeth or tongue. And not at all thinking about how they’d feel on his skin. “And don’t think I haven’t tried to collect all of them.”

“Where are we going next?” asked Mickey.

“Ha! I’m so glad you asked!” The Doctor spun around and headed for the saloon doors. He paused before pushing through them. “I have no idea!” With that, he exited the saloon and made his way to the foyer and out to the stagecoach driver’s box.

Sighing as he sat down, the Doctor flexed his fingers in midair over the control panel. What was happening to him? All he could think about was Rose. All he wanted to do was drop Mickey off back in Little London so he could be alone with Rose.  Her involuntary physical reactions to his presence—the flushed skin, enlarged pupils, pheromones and subtle gestures—indicated she likely wouldn’t mind that arrangement. But, he couldn’t. He had made promises to himself when he became the last of his kind that his priority would always, always be the balance of the universe.  Never a beautiful woman with golden hair, coffee eyes and pink flushed skin. He sighed, fingers twitching in midair over the control panel.

He pressed a button and a circular looking glass emerged from the back of the control panel. He squinted through the looking glass and settled his fingers on a dial, turning it back and forth to scan the Aether of time and space for something interesting. Something sufficiently distracting.

A peculiar, blue blip kept popping up, though he had a difficult time locking on to the coordinates. It flashed and slid across the viewing field, then disappeared. It appeared as if the blip was an echo bouncing off of its actual source in random directions. He flipped a few other levers and turned a crank to attempt to triangulate the position and—there it was.

“Huh,” the Doctor tapped the looking glass, and noticed his own bemused reflection. “Might as well have a look.”

The horse snorted and shook her mane. 

“Oh, stop. Could be dangerous? Never stopped us before,” the Doctor said as he set the coordinates and snapped the reins. The horse whinnied and hoofed the ground before finally taking off.

The Doctor sat back as his surroundings whipped past until they became a vortex blur circling around his periphery. He could see this phenomenon a bit differently than his companions. His senses effortlessly gathered and interpreted the myriad of stimuli as time streams, motes of matter and all possible worlds whirled past. From what he understood, companions that joined him in the driver’s box saw it more like moving through a dream with only fragmented moments caught in their sensory net.

At last, the surroundings slowed their swirling dance and solidified to form the deck of a large airship floating in a sea of star-freckled night sky. The Doctor blinked and leaned forward. The wooden ship creaked and swayed as the faded, red and gold balloon overhead held it aloft in a current of whispering air. It was eerily silent otherwise. No sign of the deck crew, and it appeared as though they hadn’t been there for quite a while. He withdrew his harmonic screwdriver and scanned the area. No signs of life, other than mice and nesting birds. And yet—there were strong temporal energy fields throughout the ship.

The Doctor climbed down from the driver’s box, wandered over to the starboard side of the ship and peered over the edge. Nothing but placid ocean for miles around, reflecting the same midnight palette of the sky. It was disorienting to say the least. Awfully limbo-like. He made his way back to the TARDIS, pensive.

Rose and Mickey had climbed out of the TARDIS in the meantime and were held captive by their surroundings.

“Never been on an airship before,” whispered Rose as she stared up at the balloon overhead. “They don’t fly out our way too often.”

“No, they wouldn’t,” said the Doctor. “Trains still do just fine out west.”

“Seems empty,” said Mickey.

“You’d be correct. Let’s go figure out why,” the Doctor said as he slipped his harmonic screwdriver back into his duster pocket. “Allons-y!”

They find the hatch that lead down into the control room of the airship. One after the other, they climbed inside. The room was cramped and dark, save for the ambient glow of energy currents running through the control panels.

“Careful; looks like things have been dismantled,” the Doctor said as he stepped over a large, broken lever.

Rose held her skirts up as she stepped over a fallen pipe and joined the Doctor, who had busied himself with sweeping away a layer of dust from the control panel. “Doctor, how is the airship still flying if no one’s here to pilot it?”

“Dunno. That’s the mystery—and I’d say it has been abandoned for a good many years. It could fall out of the sky at any moment,” the Doctor smiled down to Rose and wiggled his eyebrows. “Our kind of adventure, yes?”

Rose smiled up at him and the Doctor swore the room got brighter. His eyes settled on hers and he almost didn’t want to walk any further. She wore a light blue, bustled day dress. Little yellow buttons trailed from her collar down to her waist, matching the yellow swirly pattern of her dress. And her hair, soft and shining, was pulled back loosely in matching combs and pins. He noticed that, not only were her cheeks pink and her eyes lidded, she had taken a step closer. She was bold, his Rose. _His_ Rose? Swallowing thickly, he blinked from her spell and swept away from her on down an adjacent hallway.

Rose’s resounding sigh followed him, and he turned another corner before he had to listen to Mickey making any sort of noise to Rose about how he was the type of fellow who’d never follow through. The Doctor mimicked the Mickey voice he heard in his head as he entered a small room just off the main hall.

“Oh, what’s this?” The Doctor stopped at the doorway. Rose and Mickey’s footsteps were close behind.

“What is it, Doctor?” asked Rose.

“A fireplace.”

“Not a good idea on a wooden airship, is it?” Mickey said as he shouldered past Rose and the Doctor. “It looks so…”

“Fancy,” said Rose.

The Doctor entered the room cautiously and approached the fireplace. “Parisian French design. Elegant, hand carved. Not quite chateaux-worthy, but…what’s it doing on an airship?”

“A lit fire on an abandoned airship,” Rose said softly, drawing near.

“Hello? Is someone there?” A voice called out from the fireplace.

The Doctor’s eyebrow quirked and he bent down to look through the fireplace. “Oh, hello there.”

 A young woman in her late teens sat primly on the other side, wearing a pale gold filigree corset over a white, cleavage bearing chemise.  Her golden hair was partially up in loose waves held by ivory combs. “What are you doing in my fireplace?” she asked.

“Oh, you know. Routine…fire inspection.” The Doctor cleared his throat, hoping she’d buy it. “What’s your name?”

“Reinette,” said the lady.

“Where are you?” The Doctor peered over her shoulder and then back to her. Then he noticed that her eyes were rimmed with red as though she’d been crying. Not his concern, he reminded himself.

“My… bedroom, of course.”

“And where’s your bedroom? Where do you live, Reinette?”

Reinette quirked an eyebrow at the Doctor and sniffed. “Paris. Wouldn’t you know if you’re inspecting my fireplace, monsieur?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Paris—right,” the Doctor shook his head. “All right, inspection’s over. Goodnight, Reinette!” He stood and withdrew his harmonic screwdriver to inspect the fireplace and surrounding room.

“Goodnight, monsieur…” Reinette’s voice called out after him, puzzled.

The Doctor checked the readings picked up by his screwdriver.

 “How could there be a room on the other side? We’re against the outer hull of the airship,” Rose looked out of a porthole beside the fireplace.

The Doctor looked up to the portal briefly and back to the screwdriver. “This ship is generating enough energy to punch a hole in the universe, and I think we just found the hole. A spacio-temporal  hyperlink of sorts,” said the Doctor, sliding the harmonic screwdriver back into his coat pocket.

“What’s that?” asked Mickey.

“No idea. I just made it up. Thought it sounded better than magic door.” The Doctor shrugged.

“And on the other side is a bedroom in France?”

“Well, she was speaking French.”

“She was speaking English; I heard her!” said Mickey.

“The TARDIS—it translates languages,” explained Rose with a slightly annoyed sigh as she peered into the fireplace.

The Doctor felt along the mantle of the fireplace and his fingers slipped across a hidden lever. Before he could react, the fireplace swung around until he ended up in the room on the other side. 

Reinette jolted upright from her bed with a gasp. She clenched blankets to her chest. “Wh-What are you doing here?”

The Doctor held up his hands. “It’s me! Remember? We were just speaking. I was in your fireplace.”

Reinette blinked. “But that was weeks ago. At least a month.”

“Really?” the Doctor backed towards the fireplace. “Must be a loose connection…” He saw that her hair was now tied back in a long braid and she wore a nightgown. Her eyes were also noticeably less distraught. Pretty, even. The Doctor blinked as he looked away from her to extend his senses throughout the room, scanning for clues in a matter of seconds. The sound of a ticking clock grew rather prominent and he swore he didn’t hear it at first. A quick glance at the clock on the fireplace mantle revealed it to be broken—its glass shattered and hands stopped.

“Now, that’s scary,” the Doctor said. “Do you hear it?”

Reinette’s bewildered expression remained fixed on the Doctor. “Hear what?”

“The ticking. A clock ticking. How would a clock tick,” he nodded in the direction of the clock on the mantle. “If it’s broken? But, it doesn’t quite sound like a clock. It’s too big, the sound resonance.”

“What is it, then?” Reinette whispered, eyes darting around as she remained utterly still.

The ticking sound came from beneath Reinette’s bed, he surmised. He took a step closer. “Stay still on the bed. Right as you are.”

The Doctor ducked down and flung away the bedskirt just in time to see a dark shape slide out of view. He bolted to his feet, harmonic screwdriver in his hand, to find himself staring across at an airship drone. Airship drones were mechanical workers designed to replace members of a deck crew or servants on large airships and long-distance flights. This one was dressed in finely tailored, Parisian gentleman’s clothing. Its perpetual smile gleamed eerily in the soft moonlight that fell across the room from the window.

“What on earth are _you_ doing here? Wherever ‘here’ is,” said the Doctor to the drone.

The airship drone tilted its head and didn’t respond.

“What do you want with me?” Reinette asked with schooled authority.

“You are not yet needed. You are not complete.” Its voice was mechanical and monotone.

“She is incomplete? What does that mean?” asked the Doctor.

The drone did not respond.

 “Answer me!” the Doctor held out his harmonic screwdriver, ready to send a resonant blast of sound.

The drone turned sharply away from the bed and marched across the room towards the Doctor. It flung out its arm and a blade extended from its wrist, centimeters from the Doctor’s neck.

“Monsieur, be careful!”

 “It’s all right, Reinette. Just a nightmare. You’ll forget all this in the morning!” The Doctor swatted away the drone’s arm easily, but the drone closed in on him without hesitation. The Doctor backed up, fending off slashes from the drone’s blade, until he reached the fireplace. The drone’s blade came down in an arc, but became lodged in the mantle of the fireplace as the Doctor sidestepped.

 “Just a nightmare, like I said!” the Doctor grinned as he pressed the switch and the fireplace swiveled around back to the airship.

The drone dislodged itself from the fireplace and closed in to attack once more.

Rose grabbed an apparatus hanging from the nearby wall that resembled a canon and aimed it at the drone. She squeezed its trigger and a blast of icy air spewed from the barrel. The drone froze where it stood, wrapped in a thin layer of ice wherever the blast had hit. The Doctor managed to grip its shoulder and pull it away from the fireplace. It slumped in a heap against a table, bits of it cracking from the cold.

“What in the name of…” said Mickey.

“Airship drone. For some reason it was after Reinette,” the Doctor explained as he opened up the head compartment to reveal a myriad of interlaced cogs. “Oh, you’re beautiful! First time I’ve seen the inside of one of these. Quite a fine specimen of craftsmanship. Oh, and good work, Rose. Quick thinking with that fire extinguisher.”

“Had no idea it would do that,” Rose shrugged and admired the gun-like fire extinguisher. “Why is it after her?”

“Not sure yet, but I’m going to find out,” the Doctor looked up and around the room. “An airship of this size usually has up to ten or twelve of these clockwork drones on board. Which means… stay here. I’m going to go back through. Don’t wander off!”

“Wait! I’m going with you.” Rose strode towards him.

It was too late; the Doctor had already activated the switch. “Sorry, Rose! I’ll be quick—next time!”

//

Rose sighed as the Doctor disappeared behind the fireplace. “Don’t wander off, he says…”

“Let’s look around. Can’t be too dangerous if it’s abandoned,” Mickey suggested.

Rose ran her palm across the ice gun. She preferred to think of it that way as opposed to a fire extinguisher. “Doubt we’ll get another chance to explore an airship.”

“Exactly!” Mickey grinned.

“Where do we start, then?” Rose’s tone was a little lackluster. She couldn’t help but feel that if Mickey wasn’t there, the Doctor wouldn’t have hesitated in bringing her with him through the fireplace. She was thankful that Mickey appeared to be oblivious that she didn’t want him there.

“Dunno, let’s just start walking. That thing heavy?”

Rose shrugged. “A little. Let’s go.”

The rest of the ship was as just as littered with debris as what they had seen so far. Rose peered into rooms as they passed, noting how tables and chairs were tipped over, papers and other items strewn about and beds were unmade. It wasn’t until the fourth room that she realized that there was a path through the mess leading to a central feature in each room. One room had a large, ornate mirror; another room had a window with heavy burgundy curtains; another a vanity with immaculately arranged perfumes and powders; and another had an archway with a quaint garden courtyard just beyond the threshold.

Rose backtracked and walked with deliberate, slow steps across the room with the window. Through the window, she could see Reinette straddling an unfamiliar man on a four poster bed. She was smiling down to him as she unfastened her corset with a sensual flourish. The man gripped her thighs as she rolled her hips, teasing. Rose blinked and looked away to see that Mickey had not followed her. She gave the window another peek, satisfying her hope that the man was not the Doctor, and quickly left the room.

Rose found Mickey staring at a picture frame. She crept up to him and poked him on the shoulder. “Enjoying the show?”

Mickey gasped and jerked away from her, then relaxed with a sigh. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

Rose glanced through the frame and saw Reinette smiling daintily behind a fan at a man who whispered something in her ear. Her lacy, purple dress was slung low and off the shoulders, wrapped at her hips and fell open on one side to expose creamy thighs and knee-high stockings. She had a lady’s hat perched atop her head with a purple feather and matching lace gloves. They were flirting on a grand staircase while other similarly dressed women stood about, some with men of their own and others gossiping behind fans.

“In the one I looked in before this, she looked a lot younger and she was sitting at her vanity putting on rouge,” said Mickey.

“I think she’s a night flower,” said Rose.

“What gave that away?” Mickey smirked.

“Other than the fact that this one makes it quite obvious we’re looking at a bordello, the one I looked through, well, she was… how do you say, literally entertaining a gentleman.”

“Really? Which one? Where?”

Rose rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder. “Come on now, we’re here as explorers, not voyeurs.”

Mickey sighed, disappointed. “After you, miss.”

Rose turned and left the room to resume wandering the halls. They walked past various doors that once served as bedrooms, studies, the kitchens, and a tearoom. Each room held a magic door into Reinette’s life. Some were quiet, and from others, voices were heard. Laughter, clinking glasses, music or sex. Rose found it chilling, especially since Reinette did not seem to know. She thought of the Doctor and how he had been so eager to further investigate the other side. Before her thoughts could spiral out from there, Mickey called out her name.

“Come here, look at this.” Mickey said from a dark room.

Rose walked in to find that they were now in some sort of engine room. A furnace flamed from the opposite side of the room, bathing everything in a wavering orange glow. Large steam pipes ran from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Valves and levers stuck out from control panels every few feet.  Rose found it incredible that the airship could be lifted into the sky with all the heavy piping involved in making it run.

 Mickey was peering closely at a clockwork machine that had been hooked up to one of the pipes. He moved aside as Rose drew near. She leaned closely as the dim light made it difficult to discern what she was looking at.

“It’s a heart, isn’t it?” asked Mickey.

Rose’s eyes finally adjusted. Yes—a beating human heart. She gasped and took a step back. “Horrifying...” Now completely on edge, she turned away from the heart to look more closely at other areas of the engine room.

“We should go back to the fireplace room. See if the Doctor’s back.” Mickey said, backing out slowly.

Rose nodded her agreement, readjusted the ice gun in the hook of her arm (it was getting rather heavy) and headed out of the room.

//

The Doctor rounded the fireplace to find himself in Reinette’s warm, brightly lit room. Reinette sat by the window bathed in sunlight, a harp nestled between her knees. Her eyes were closed as she plucked a gentle melody. She wore an elegant dinner gown, much more modest than previous times he’d seen her. The Doctor tried not to stare as he stepped away from the fireplace. She opened her eyes to see him standing there and smiled.

“Oh—fireplace man!” She carefully tilted the harp back to its base and stood, smoothing out her dress.

“You can call me Doctor,” he said with a smile. “I’m just here to check and see if you’re okay. No more attacks in the past, er…few weeks?”

Reinette’s smile faltered and shook her head. “Five years.”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “I… see, well, that’s good, yes? That you’ve been safe.”

“Safe, yes,” she took a few steps closer to him. “Don’t tell me I’m having a dream while wide awake in the middle of the day. You look exactly the same as last I saw you.”

“Reinette!” called a voice from the hallway. “The Captain is here—he’s requested you again.”

“I know! I’ll be down in a moment!”  Reinette responded without taking her eyes off of the Doctor.

The Doctor looked down at his pinstriped waistcoat and patted the pockets of his brown duster. “Right, sorry. Well then. It’s been lovely to catch up… I… probably should be on my way then. Don’t want the Captain to find you in here with a strange man.”

Reinette smirked a little. “The Captain knows very well the nature of my occupation. Otherwise he wouldn’t be here. And, strange? How could you be a stranger to me? I’ve known you for years.”

“I suppose you have. It’s a bit different for me, though.” The Doctor swallowed, realizing at last that he was standing in a bordello.

Reinette captured his eyes with hers and placed her hand on his cheek, fingertips stroking in a lazy pattern. “Different how? You seem flesh and blood to me.”

The Doctor wanted to flee as fast as he could., yet he remained frozen in place as his mind worked through how to gracefully remove himself from the room. This was not going in a direction he felt comfortable with in the slightest. Thankfully, Reinette must have sensed his tension and removed her hand.

“You’re not a nightmare or a dream. But, how could you be real otherwise?”

“Well, I…”

The voice called out again. “Reinette! What is keeping you?”

“Just a moment!” Reinette called back over her shoulder, not hiding the irritation in her voice. She turned back to the Doctor. Annoyance melted from her face instantly, replaced by pure desire. “So many questions… But, I must go.”

The Doctor nodded and scratched the back of his head. “I under—“

And her mouth was on his before he could finish the word. She pressed against him as he backed towards the fireplace, frantic. Her lips were soft and warm against his. She brought her hand to his neck and slid her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. The Doctor found himself responding to her kiss against his better judgment. It had been so long, and she felt good. He deepened the kiss as she swept her tongue across his bottom lip. His hands found her waist and in his mind she wore a blue day dress with little gold buttons.

“REINETTE!” The voice again.

Reinette wrenched herself away from the Doctor, her chest heaving. “I’m sorry—I really must go.”

The Doctor just stared, slack jawed. What had he done? Kissed a woman he barely knew. But to be fair, she kissed him first. He fumbled for the fireplace behind him, foregoing grace.

He watched as Reinette licked her lips and straightened her dress, then hurried out of the room.

**//**

Rose and Mickey wandered a while before they finally relocated the main corridor that held the fireplace room. They stopped to inspect a spyglass that Rose swore had turned towards them as they entered the hall. It was mounted on the wall by a porthole. Rose had to stand on her feet to peer inside and nearly screamed at what she saw. A human eye stared back at her, bald and blue. She looked through again, driven by macabre curiosity.

“My stars, it’s an eyeball!”

Mickey grabbed the spyglass. “Let me see.” Rose gladly stepped away so he could have a look.

Rose heard footsteps echo from the corridor up ahead.  “Who’s there? Doctor?”

“Rose! Mickey!” the Doctor called out. “Oh, there you are. I told you not to wander off, didn’t I?”

“You should know better by now,” said Rose. “We found a heart. And an eye.”

“You found—what?”

Mickey backed away from the spyglass. “Hooked up to the ship. Eye’s right here.” He nodded over to the spyglass.

As the Doctor passed Rose, she could smell the unmistakable floral fragrance of perfume wafting from him. She adjusted the ice gun strap on her shoulder and turned away.

The Doctor took a look inside and ducked away almost as soon as he put his eye to it, making a face. “That’s eerie. Well, more clues the merrier when it comes to a mystery to solve. Ship drones after Reinette, who happens to be a courtesan for the elite of Paris, might I add. Body parts hooked up to the airship—which has been running on full power and yet abandoned for however long. Anything else?”

Rose cleared her throat. “Here,” she gestured into the nearest room, the room with the window. “Seems like each room has something like this inside. A magic door, like the fireplace, into different points in Reinette’s life.”

They entered the room and stood before the window frame. Reinette walked up to the window from her side at the same time. Rose wrapped her arms around herself, still quite unnerved at the idea that they could see her but she couldn’t see them. Reinette wore an elaborate, tiered gown of dark blue lace and silk. Her hair was pinned up beneath a bejeweled arrangement of feathers and she held a blue peacock mask on a wand in one hand. Stunning, Rose thought. Perhaps the richest and most gorgeous gown she’d ever see in her entire life. Rose smoothed her hands over the draped, roughspun fabric of her own simple dress. She touched her hair, finding it had slipped a bit from the combs and likely looked a right mess. Tucking her lip between her teeth, she glanced over to the Doctor, who watched Reinette with an expression that was difficult to decipher.

“Did you find anything out about why they could be after her?” Rose asked.

“No, I didn’t. But, it seems they are waiting for her to be complete. Whatever that means.”

Rose dared to glance at him to see that he was still staring at Reinette. Reinette looked up over their heads, likely gazing out at the night sky. Suddenly, the attraction Rose thought she felt between herself and the Doctor at the piano earlier seemed like another life. Perhaps she was imagining things. Or, perhaps the Doctor discovered a brighter star. She glared at Reinette, taking advantage of the one-way window.

A man in full Captain’s regalia walked into the room with Reinette then, and she turned to greet him with a curtsy. The man was dressed equally as formal, and Rose guessed they must be heading to a fancy ball. Reinette and the man stood close, and he reached out to gently stroke the pale skin of her jawline with his knuckles.  Rose’s eyebrows lifted at the gentle gesture and at how Reinette leaned into it with a soft smile playing on her lips. It seemed too soft, too affectionate, to be an exchange between a courtesan and her client.

Rose glanced back toward the Doctor to find that was now staring at her. She blinked, not expecting that in the slightest, and forced a few clumsy words through her lips. “Must be some big to do out in Paris.”

 “Mm. Something the matter, Rose?” the Doctor asked, ignoring her comment.

“Just a little unsettled. Ship’s running on human parts.” She sighed with relief as she managed to say something far less ridiculous that time.

The Doctor tilted his head a bit and she couldn’t tell if he believed her.  His eyes were dark and unsettled as he inspected her features. Rose licked her lips, her mouth suddenly going dry. He sighed and they both looked back towards the window.

The gentleman exited the room and Reinette turned back towards the window, but stopped dead in her tracks as a ticking sound filled the room. Her eyes grew wide and she whirled to face the sound. “Who goes there?”

A figure stood off to the side, facing away from her. It remained unresponsive.

“Show yourself!” Reinette demanded, unblinking.

The figure turned, emitting a chorus of chimes and ticks as it maneuvered  into the light to reveal itself as a clockwork airship drone—a female model.

The Doctor leapt to action. He felt around the window frame until he found a latch, and pushed his way through into the room with Reinette. The window swung shut before Mickey and Rose could join him.

“Hey!” Rose shouted at the fireplace. “Would you stop leaving us here?”

Reinette nearly jumped to the ceiling as she yelped.

“Hello, Reinette! Hasn’t time flown,” said the Doctor as he brushed past her to apprehend the clockwork drone.

 “Doctor! How in…” Reinette spun around, mouth hanging open.

Rose tore her eyes from the action to face Mickey. “We should go help them!”

Mickey was already on it. He felt around the frame and smacked its edges, but couldn’t find the lever. “It seems stuck!”

“Then I’ll go through the fireplace. Can’t be that big of a house!”

“Rose, reckon he might’ve wanted us to stay here?” Mickey shrugged. “And what if you go through to the wrong time?”

Rose frowned and slung the ice gun off of her shoulder and to the floor. She rotated her shoulder and massaged it. “I don’t give a damn. I’ll break through this window, then! You see this?” She gathered her skirt in white-knuckled fists and charged. “This is me, not giving a single goddamn. I’m going to help.”

Mickey grabbed her arm, pulling her back. “Rose, wait! Look, they’re safe.”

Rose glared through the window. The Doctor had arrived in time to pull the drone away from Reinette and render it harmless. They could hear the Doctor’s voice faintly from beyond the window glass.

“Who are you? Identify yourself,” the Doctor said, standing back from the drone.

The drone did not respond. The Doctor sighed and turned to Reinette. “Order it to answer me.”

“Wh—why should it listen to me?” asked Reinette.

“I don’t know. It did the last time. Give it a try.”

Reinette took a deep breath and spoke sternly. “Answer his question. Answer any and all questions put to you.”

The drone’s head tilted and its arm lowered to its side. After a series of ticks and clicks, it finally answered. “I am prepared to respond, my lady.”

The Doctor sniffed. “What happened to the ship?”

“A storm blew the ship off course.”

“Yeah? And what happened to the crew? The ship looks like it’s been adrift for over a year.”

“Abandoned ship, or perished. Those who remained implemented the directive to repair the ship. We did not have the parts.”

The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets and walked up to the drone. “So where is the remaining crew?”

“We did not have the parts.”

“Answer me. The crew? The ones who survived the storm—where are they?”

“We did not have the parts.”

“Picked up by another ship, perhaps?”

“We did not have the parts.”

“Oh.” The Doctor backed away from the drone. “Right. That explains the heart. The eye.”

“Excuse me?” said Reinette.

“Didn’t have the parts, so they used the crew.” The Doctor remained quiet for a moment before continuing. “All right then, what do you want with Reinette?” The Doctor asked the drone.

The clockwork drone shifted mechanically to face Reinette. “One more part is required.”

Reinette held her stomach and swayed slightly, sickened by the revelation.  Her face drained of color and she swallowed.

“All right. And why haven’t you taken her? Why do you stalk her and vanish after scanning her brain?”

The drone tilts its head. “She is incomplete.”

The Doctor rocked back on his heels. “So it’s true. You’re searching her life though the time windows to find the right moment. When she’s complete. So, why her?”

“We are the same.”

Reinette nearly dropped her mask as she responded with incredulity. “We are _NOT_ the same!”

“We are the same.” The drone repeated, ticking eerily.

“Get out! Get out of here at once!” Reinette shook with fear and anger as she stared down the clockwork drone. The drone bowed stiffly and teleported away.

On the other side of the window, Rose helplessly banged on the window frame and searched the edge until she found the latch. She winced as she pushed as hard as she could to release the latch, but only managed to make it dig into her skin. 

“What if the Doctor can’t get back here? What if he’s trapped?” asked Mickey.

“He’s a big boy. And smart. He’ll find a way if he wants to.” Rose said with a bit of derision as she withdrew her hand and put it to her mouth to nurse the pain. “The drone’s on the ship now though.”

“Let’s go then—try to figure out what we can do from this side.” Mickey turned away from the window and stepped over debris on his way out.

Rose gave the window another glance just in time to see a coyly smiling Reinette link arms with the Doctor and lead him out of the room.  He looked shy and uncertain, yet clearly not enough to resist going along with her. Rose made a note to have more than a few words with him whenever they were reunited.

//

 “Are you all right?” the Doctor asked Reinette.

“Yes, thank you,” Reinette smiled, but her expression quickly shifted to confusion. “How are you able to just appear at the perfect moment? What did you mean, ‘time windows’?”

“Oh, I’m… well. You see, there’s this…ship. That’s where they’re coming from. And--,” the Doctor looked around the room as he spoke. He waved his hand as though to clear away whatever it was that made him stammer. “It’s complicated. Did you have somewhere to be?”

Reinette’s smile returned and she moved closer to him. “I do. I’m attending a masquerade with Captain Louis.”

“Ah, I hope you have a lovely time,” the Doctor smiled briefly and shoved his hands back into his pockets. He needed to get back to the ship. Wherever this was going, he couldn’t let it progress. Tempting as it was to experience an affluent masquerade ball in Paris.

“Although he is my lover, he knows what I am and doesn’t quite understand that I’m afraid of being recognized.” Reinette twisted the peacock mask in her fingertips and looked down. “You could come with me? Separately, of course, but… I’d love to dance with you.” The coy smile returned and she peered up at him through dark lashes.

“Reinette, you’ll do fine. I have no doubt. You probably know more about the world than the wealthiest woman there.  Your occupation matters very little,” he exhaled as he prepared to reject her. “But, I can’t go with you.”

Reinette tilted her head, assessed his body language. “You can’t, but you’d like to. Please, join me. I’m just asking for a dance.” She held out her arm.

The Doctor looked down at her arm. He considered her offer and found himself walking towards her before he could stop himself. Yes, he’d like to. She was beautiful and open to him, but Rose and Mickey were on the ship. With rogue airship drones. The more important choice was obvious. And yet… he took Reinette’s arm. It wouldn’t hurt to have a look around the bordello for any further clues. Rose was resourceful, Mickey could hold his own. He wouldn’t go to the masquerade, but he would linger if it meant solving the mystery more quickly.

Reinette led him down the hall towards the staircase. She worked on one of the upper floors, it appeared. It was a rather elegant and refined environment with tinted lamps glowing in each corner, paintings of goddesses in elaborate, golden frames, a rich, red and gold filigree runner down the hall. The Doctor allowed her to lead him down two sets of stairs. All the while, he categorized everything that could be a time window. Paintings, wardrobes, mirrors and closed doors were all prime suspects. He calculated perspectives from each potential window to get an idea of what the clockwork drones saw as they’d carry on their search.

They reached the main floor, which was, unsurprisingly, set up like a tavern with a card room and a fully stocked bar. Other women in various states of dress lingered about, talking to men or having a drink themselves. Reinette pulled the Doctor down a hallway towards a closed door. The unmistakable smell of opium wafted through the cracks and the Doctor arched his eyebrow.

“Reinette?” the Doctor said, not quite sure what he was asking, but hoping she’d explain all the same.

“The Captain was in the card room, I didn’t want him to see us just yet. If you go out through this cellar, you’ll exit in the alley. From there, find a carriage to taxi you to—“

The Doctor put up his hand to stop her. “Reinette, I just can’t do this. I’m sorry—I have friends waiting for me and we need to do all we can to help you. You’re in danger.”

“Perhaps once the danger is clear, then?” She moved closer to him and reached out to toy with the chain of his fob watch.

“I don’t know,” the Doctor said truthfully. “I can’t promise that.”

“I’ve wanted to be with you for so long. Can’t you see that?”

The Doctor now sorely wished he hadn’t followed her downstairs. As tempting as Reinette was, he couldn’t stop thinking of Rose and how much danger she could be in right now.  And there was Mickey… “From my perspective, it has only been a day. You’re a remarkable woman, Reinette, but I must go.”

Reinette stared at him, her eyes so full of longing. She leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth and whispered against his lips. “Doctor, you may have only known me for a day, but I’ve loved you for years.”

The Doctor closed his eyes briefly and turned his lips away from hers.  “Reinette, you love the Captain. I’m just a figment, flickering in and out of your life.” He felt like he was getting nowhere. Humans were so peculiar—the way they wanted things more and more the less they knew they could have them.

“I don’t expect you to love me,” said Reinette softly. Her fingers let go of his fob watch chain and slid down to the waistband of his trousers. “And yes, I do love the Captain. But I’ve loved you longer.”

The Doctor swallowed and avoided looking down to wherever her hands were drifting. “Reinette, you love the idea of me—it’s an illusion. You’ve filled in the gaps of time with fantasies.”

“Don’t dare tell me how I love! I am not a child.” She glared at him and jerked her hand away. “Though you are showing yourself to be just like any other man.”

The Doctor took a step back from her, relieved and yet stung by her words. “I’m sorry. You’re in danger and resolving that is my priority. None of this should be happening, from what I gather. You should be enjoying yourself at the masquerade right now without fear of clockwork monsters.”

Reinette finally blinked the tears from her eyes. “I’ll deal with the monsters if it meant you’d be in my life.”

The Doctor’s mouth formed a thin line as he attempted to cover a grimace. He had no idea how to respond to that.  So, he chose to ignore it completely. “Where is the fireplace room?”

Reinette flinched, startled at his complete dismissal of her words. “Up two flights of stairs, down the hall and to the left.” She ground out.

“Thank you. You’ll be safe, that is all I can promise. Please, enjoy yourself at the masquerade.” He avoided looking at her as he walked past, headed for the staircase. He found his way back to the fireplace easily and from there, back to the airship. No doubt, Reinette was hurt, but he couldn’t risk her life for a dance that meant not even half as much to him as it meant to her. He called out to Rose and Mickey as he traversed the narrow airship corridors, stepping over debris in his way. At last, a symphony of clockwork chimes and ticks lead his way straight to the engine room.

What he finds nearly sent him into a rage spiral. Mickey and Rose had been captured by the clockwork drones and were both strapped to makeshift surgical slabs. A clockwork drone had Rose by the head, a tiny saw-like instrument spinning in its hand. It was going for her eye, when the Doctor coughed, alerting them to his presence. The drone pulled away from Rose and another came around from behind a pylon, pistol aimed at the Doctor’s forehead.

“Come now, where are your manners? We’re the guests on this ship. You’re the crew. Weren’t you programmed better than that?” the Doctor chided.

Rose’s head rolled towards the sound of his voice and her eyelids fluttered open. “Doctor?”

“Hello, Rose,” the Doctor said with a grin. The drone with the pistol cranked up his arm to aim, its slow, mechanical movements giving the Doctor enough of a warning to duck out of the way as a shot is fired. “Not a good place to set off a bullet ricochet.” The Doctor tisked as he meandered over to the control panel. The clockwork drones went after him, their movements jerky and stiff. More drones filed into the room and closed in on the Doctor. He counted nine all together.

“This has to do something, yes?” the Doctor said as he flipped random switches and turned a dial. Nothing happened, and the drones were still closing in.

“Doctor!” shouted Rose. “Mickey! Wake up!”

The Doctor ducked away from another bullet that hit a steam pipe. The hiss of boiling hot steam billowed out in the closest drone’s face. It trembled as it malfunctioned, its system overheating.  The Doctor continued to inspect the control panel until he worked out the shutdown sequence for the drones. They froze in position like strange statues. The Doctor pushed past them and rushed over to release Rose and Mickey from their restraints

Rose hopped down from the table, anger in her eyes. “Where the hell were you? Off having a tête-à-tête with the Madame?”

“I was gathering information,” said the Doctor. “And I just saved you! A thank you would be appreciated.”

“Yeah? And what information did you gather? That she has a lovely set of—“

“Rose, be quiet a second,” said Mickey. “Do you hear that?”

The Doctor heard it. A ringing sound, faint, but unmistakable. He looked over the console and saw that a bulb was flashing in time with the alarm. He narrowed his eyes. “Something’s wrong with the drone control system. Seems to be reactivating.”

“How could that be?” asked Rose.

“Possible that they weren’t all on board when it happened and this is a backup system that overrides the shutdown if one were to not be within range.” The Doctor sniffed. “In other words, we need to get out of here.”

Just as he spoke, the drones cranked back to life, activated their teleports and disappeared.

The Doctor reached out, grabbed Rose’s hand, and rushed down the hallway. Mickey followed close behind, their quick bootsteps like gunfire on the wooden floors.  The Doctor yelled over his shoulder as they rushed from room to room. “We need to find the right time!”

“Doctor!” Rose called out, her arm stretched out before her, hand clasped tightly in his. “I have an idea!”

The Doctor whipped into another room, inspected the cupboard-as-time window, and turned to face Rose after assessing it was Reinette-less. “I’m listening.”

“I’ll find a window into Reinette’s life to tell her to give us a signal to listen for when her life is in danger.”

The Doctor stared at her in disbelief that he hadn’t thought of that himself.  He quickly leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Rose, I’m so glad I met you. Brilliant idea, but please, stay safe. I trust you. Just stay safe.”

Rose nodded and squeezed his hand. “I’ll be all right.”

//

Rose parted ways from the Doctor and Mickey to find a window that peered into an earlier time in Reinette’s life. She considered the ones she had seen so far as she searches.  Finally, she found a floor-length mirror through which she could see Reinette sitting by her window, reading a book. Rose took a deep breath. This could go so wrong for so many reasons. Gathering her courage, she pressed through the mirror. It spun around and Rose emerged in Reinette’s bedroom. She cought sight of herself in the mirror over Reinette’s vanity and was overcome with humiliation. Her hair was a right mess, completely disheveled with pins dangling from loose strands. Her dress was scuffed and ripped, likely from her struggle with the clockwork men. But these things were not important right now. Rose shook her head to rid herself of such vain concerns and looked fully at Reinette.

Reinette gasped at the sight of Rose, her book clapping shut as she slid her chair back. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

“Please don’t scream; we don’t have a lot of time. I’m a friend of the Doctor’s. The fireplace man—I’m here to give you a message.” Rose took a careful step closer.

Reinette stood and moved across the room to Rose, her chin high. “Go on then.”

“I’ve come to warn you that they’re coming for you—the clockwork drones. They’re coming right now. I mean, right now for us, but it could be years for you. We aren’t sure. It’s a bit random.”

Reinette held her arms stiffly by her sides as she looked Rose up and down. “You look like you’ve already been attacked. Is the Doctor all right? Why did he send you? Is he harmed?”

Rose swallowed her irritation at Reinette’s line of questioning and chose her words carefully. “I’m sorry, it’s hard to explain. The Doctor does this better.”

“Then do your best to be exact and I will listen. I’m not so sure his explanation of ‘it’s complicated’ is much better.”

Rose smirked a bit at that, and exhaled. “There’s an airship in the future and it’s filled with rooms that are windows into different times in your life. A violent storm hit and the passengers and crew either didn’t make it or abandoned ship. The airship drones are carrying out the directive put in place for them to keep the airship intact and functioning at all costs.”

Reinette looked down at her hands in thought. “The Doctor is able to step through these windows into my life and that is how it appears as though he has been there for me for so many years, when it has only been a day for him?”

Rose nodded. “And the drones are coming. They’re, er…” she struggled to find the word the Doctor had used. “Programmed to respond to you, so try to delay them a bit until… until the Doctor arrives to help.”

“But he needs me to call out through the fireplace the moment I know they’ve arrived.”

“Exactly,” said Rose.

Reinette opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by screams and breaking glass from beyond the mirror. They both rush towards the mirror time window and pause as they hear Reinette’s voice calling out to the Doctor in another direction.

“That is my voice!”

“Stay here, I’m going through to make sure he knows where to find you. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you’re safe.”

Reinette pushes past Rose and grabs the mirror. “I must see this for myself.”

“That’s not a good idea, and besides, there isn’t time! Reinette, trust me. Trust the Doctor… you’ll see him in time.”

Reinette backed down and clasped her hands in front of her, seemingly placated by that thought. Rose bristled, knowing well as anyone that Reinette had fallen in love with the Doctor and she had just used that knowledge to soothe Reinette’s worries. Rose went through the mirror and closed it behind her, hating herself a little.

On the Airship, Rose rushed through the corridors until she found the Doctor. He had been creating a makeshift weapon out of bits of machinery and piping and was a flurry of action.  She looked through the picture frame in the room where he’d been tinkering.  She saw Reinette standing amid a group of clockwork drones, holding them off with words alone. Off to the side were prostitutes and patrons of the bordello who had been forced back by three other drones brandishing blades or pistols.

“Doctor!” Rose cried, tearing her eyes away to focus on him.

“Rose!” The Doctor flung his arms around her and spun her around. “It worked! But I’m in a bit of a hurry, so we can hug more later.” He set her down and whirled back around to finish his task.

“What can I do to help now?” asked Rose.

“MICKEY!” The Doctor shouted as he finished his project and hoisted up the weapon in the crook of his arm. “ROSE IS SAFE, CLOSE THAT WINDOW!”

“Window is closed,” Mickey’s voice responded from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Rose nearly jumped ten feet into the air. “What in blue blazes was that?!”

“It’s a communications system that is installed throughout the ship. Not much of a system; only someone from the engine room or Captain’s chair can make announcements, but it came in handy for our purpose. It was a bit out of sorts, though nothing a screwdriver couldn’t fix.” The Doctor punctuated his explanation with a wink.

“Scared me out of my skirts!”

The Doctor gave her a peculiar look, somewhere between interest and confusion. But after a deep breath, his entire demeanor went stoic.  “I’m going through this doorway and Mickey is going to shut it behind me. Just stay here, you’ll be safe. I’ll disengage the clockwork drones on the other side. All at once, with this handy invention of mine.”

“What? Wait, what about the TARDIS? Can’t it take us there in two shakes?”

“There’s no time, strangely enough, and I’d need to get a lock on the exact time coordinates from the other side anyway. If I don’t act now, what happens will become a fixed point and can’t be undone.” The Doctor started towards the mirror.

“But that means you’ll be trapped!”

“Yes, but I’ll be fine.”

Rose stormed up to him, so close she almost stood on his feet. “What about us? Me and Mickey?  We’re on an abandoned airship being run on human parts and you are about to rush to Reinette’s rescue, leaving us here!”

The Doctor faltered. “Reinette... she’s in danger. People could die that weren’t meant to die. The drones have entered the past to fix a ship that exists in the future. I have to do this, Rose.”

“Then you can take me with you.”

The Doctor looked pained as he glanced from Rose to the time window.

Mickey says over the com: “Waiting on your word, Doctor.”

“Mickey, just shut it off. Now. Close it!” Rose yelled.

Mickey’s voice crackled over the com. “Rose? But—“

“No! Mickey, do not close the window yet” The Doctor loomed over Rose with such fury in his eyes that she almost relented. “This is not a game, Rose!” Screams are heard through the mirror gateway.

“CLOSE IT, MICKEY!” Rose screamed, her eyes not leaving the Doctor’s. “HURRY! TRUST ME!”

The sound of an air-release valve is heard, followed by a low hum. Rose saw the ballroom fade and a portrait painting shift into focus out of the corner of her eye.

The Doctor stared at Rose in disbelief. “Rose, you just trapped innocent people with drones bent on killing them.” His voice was low and dangerous.

Rose responded with measured calm, though she couldn’t stop her hands from trembling. “I know. But I don’t think that will happen. Think about it, Doctor. You’re so worried about the bigger picture that you forgot one detail. You said yourself earlier that you couldn’t completely shut them down because they were not all on location.”

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “They are cut off from the ship; from their directive. Ha! They’ll do anything Reinette tells them to without the primary override from the airship! Oh, Rose, you’re brilliant!”

“And you’re a fool! You were ready to just saunter off to the cat house without batting an eye!”

“Reinette was in danger. I was trying to save her. You and Mickey—you…” The Doctor stopped talking, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

Rose sighed as she finished the sentence for him. “Have no idea how to pilot a magic stagecoach, let alone an airship! But I sure as hell would’ve tried. And I’d have a mind to land ‘em right on your head!”

“Rose, I’m so sorry.” The Doctor’s manic excitement fizzled completely; he dropped the makeshift weapon and put his hands on Rose’s shoulders.

Rose folded her arms around herself, closing him off. She looked away as realization dawned on her—what if she was wrong? She’d been thinking so quickly that she never let doubt get its claws in her. And now… now there was no turning back. “Yeah, well. Still a risk I took. Might want to make sure, just in case.”

The Doctor held on to her shoulders a few moments longer. Rose did her best to avoid his gaze, but her love for him broke through the shame. Her lip found its way between her teeth as she let worry take over. She felt the Doctor’s hands move up, lightly grazing up her neck until he held her face. She couldn’t look away from him if she tried after that.

“Thank you,” he said softly. “For so many things.”

Rose lifted her chin and swayed towards him, the ubiquitous signal that a kiss would be rather nice right now. But, he didn’t. Of course he didn’t, but his thumb stroked her cheek before he withdrew from her and made his way towards the threshold of the room. Rose followed, absently pulling pins from her loosened hair as she went.

They reached Mickey in silence. He’d been stationed in the Captain’s chair and was looking through the Captain’s logs. He looked up as they entered. “What was going on down there?”

“Oh, you were right to trust Rose, that’s all,” said the Doctor. “Let’s head back to the TARDIS.”

Mickey stood, still flipping through the log. “You won’t believe it,” he said. “This ship is called the Airship Reinette.”

The Doctor swiped the log book from Mickey’s hands and flipped through it in a matter of seconds, then handed it back. “So, her Captain was this ship’s Captain. The puzzle is a perfect picture now. Isn’t that something?”

“Her Captain?” asked Mickey.

“Yes, she was a consort of Captain Louis, a famous airship Captain out of Paris, apparently. Let’s go.” The Doctor slipped his hands into the pockets of his duster and wandered out of the room. Mickey and Rose followed him to the deck of the ship, where they boarded the TARDIS.

Rose hesitated as she placed her foot on the step to the driver’s box. Sit next to the Doctor, or retreat to the interior?

The Doctor took the reins. “I’m going to visit Paris. Just to check.”

Rose nodded as she pulled herself up. “Know when to go, then?”

“Captain’s logs. He mentioned a date and a death…”

“You read that whole thing?”

The Doctor smiled. “Bit of a fast reader.”

Rose nodded and slipped through the curtain that separated the driver’s box from the stagecoach interior without giving him another word. Mickey was nowhere to be found, though Rose figured he might be in his room or at the saloon. She’d rather be alone herself, so she stopped by the powder room to smooth and repin her tumbleweed of hair and continued on to the library.

The library was dimly lit with oil lamps casting elliptical, orange glows intermittently about the room. She looked around at the endless columns and rows of books on her way to a green velvet settee. The book she had been reading the night before lay open where she left it. She sighed as she sank into the stiff cushions and closed her eyes, too exhausted to read.

Rose knew the moment they arrived in Paris. Her eyes sparked open and she sat up with that odd, spinning sensation in the pit of her stomach that she always felt when the stagecoach exited the vortex.  She considered going out to talk to the Doctor as she stood and stretched. No. She’d wait until he got back. Not wanting to admit that she was afraid of what he’d discover, she attempted to occupy her mind by flipping through the book. She read the same sentence at least twenty times before she gave up and closed the book. The grandfather clock in the corner ticked incessantly, reminding her too much of their recent ordeal, so she left the library and made her way to the foyer to wait for the Doctor to return.

When the Doctor returned, he set the TARDIS into the vortex and came into the foyer.  He gave Rose an odd look as though he was surprised to find her standing there.

 “She all right then?” asked Rose.

“She survived the clockwork drones. You were right,” said the Doctor as he folded up a letter and tucked it into his coat pocket.

Rose eyed the letter.  “Are you all right?”

The Doctor doesn’t smile. “I’m always all right.”

Rose frowned. “Talk to me.”

“What’s there to say? She died of consumption yesterday. We came back too late. The airship must have confused the TARDIS sensors and my coordinates were off. Time eddies… ”

“I’m sorry,” said Rose.

The Doctor shrugs. “She wanted to come with us.”

Rose fights several emotions at once as they all battle for dominance of her tongue. “You invited her?”

“Not exactly. She mentioned so in her letter,” he said and scratched the back of his head.

“Would you have taken her with you?”

The Doctor remained somber. “Possibly. Rose, it’s hard to resist when someone shows such an interest in traveling with me. A new set of eyes to look through… sometimes I don’t consider the repercussions. It was a mistake if I got her hopes up.”

“She was in love with you,” said Rose quietly.

After a pregnant silence, the Doctor responded. “I know.”

“Did you and her…?” Rose didn’t know what she was asking exactly. Possibly many things all at once. She felt her mouth go dry as she watched the Doctor shift uncomfortably.

“There was nothing between us. Not really.”

“If that’s true, why did you keep leaving us behind? Every time you went through that fireplace, I could have come with you.”

“I was caught up in the moment?” The Doctor shrugged, scratching the back of his head. “

Rose looked at him deadpan, and then cleared her throat. The next words out of her mouth surprised even her. “Is there nothing between us?”

The Doctor stared at her. “There’s…”

“Something?” She moved closer to him.

“You were on my mind the entire time, Rose. Every time I was with her. I used the separation from you to sort out how I felt. She kissed me, and yes, she’s beautiful, but she isn’t you. I barely knew her, Rose. I was drawn to her, I won’t lie to you. But, I… you’re important to me, Rose. So, so important.” The Doctor took a deep breath after his confession.

Rose swallowed. As much as she wanted to be angry at him, she also wanted to kiss him. Without further hesitation, she went with the most reasonable choice—both. She grabbed the lapel of his duster and yanked him down to her level so she could crush her lips against his. He made a startled sound, but Rose pressed further. She entwined her arms around his shoulders, her fingernails sliding through his hair as she caught his bottom lip between hers. He recovered from his surprise and she sensed him tilting his head. Her lips parted, his tongue met hers and her back met the nearby wall with such force that she yelped. The Doctor paused briefly as if to make sure he didn’t hurt her, but she only tightened her grip on him and leaned in to kiss his neck.

Rose cursed her bustle, cursed the line of thirty-odd buttons on the front of her dress, as the Doctor’s hands found her waist. His mouth moved down to her neck, teeth grazing flesh just above her collar.

“Need you,” the Doctor said, becoming rather still.

Rose nodded, breathless, the desire in his voice drilling straight down to her core. She swiveled her hips, desperate for friction between her legs, and brought a hand down from his neck to pop open the top button of his shirt.

The Doctor’s eyes darkened and he grabbed her hand from his shirt. He reached beside her with his free hand and flung open a door that Rose swore wasn’t there just a moment ago. He guided her inside and…

 

_To be continued…_

 


	6. The Billiard Table

The Doctor’s eyes darkened and he grabbed her hand from his shirt. He reached beside her with his free hand and flung open a door that Rose swore hadn’t been there just a moment ago. He guided her inside and closed the door behind them. He couldn’t believe what was happening. Neither could his TARDIS, apparently, because a quick glance of their surroundings indicated she had shuffled the billiard room, and not his private quarters, closer to their location. Or, perhaps she was being cheeky, or giving him an out. The Doctor found he cared less and less why the TARDIS did what she did with each button Rose deftly unfastened on his waistcoat. He went to work on the buttons on her dress as well, and after the fifteenth, Rose sighed impatiently.

“Just rip it open, I don’t mind.” A grin touched her lips briefly before she sought out his neck once more.

The Doctor closed his eyes, the feel of her lips on his throat sending sparks through every nerve in his body. “You’re worth the wait,” he said, and went back to the task.

Rose left lingering kisses along his jawline, and then backed off enough so that he could reach her dress easily. She tilted her head, watching him.

The Doctor finally made it to the last button and paused. His eyes trailed up the part in the thick blue fabric. The chemise she wore underneath was subtly translucent and gaped a bit, hinting at the soft curves of her breasts. He popped the last button open and she stepped back further, a coy smile touching her lips.

“Well, in that case, you won’t mind waiting a little longer.” Rose pulled the fitted dress jacket off of her shoulders and slowly slipped it down her arms. When she had tossed it aside, she went to work on her skirt and bustle--and not with any amount of hurry, either. The Doctor knew she was toying with him, perhaps even punishing him, in the way she removed each garment with such slow seduction and yet affected an air of complete detachment from him. Not once did she even look his way. She slid her fingertips up the bare skin of her arm and across her chest. The Doctor’s eyes were drawn again to her breasts and he felt his mouth go dry. Pink nipples were visibly taut under the white chemise. Her hand lingered just above her breasts before she changed course and slid it through her hair to remove the pins and comb. Her hair spilled in a golden mess of loose waves over her shoulders as she set the hair accessories on the nearby billiard table.

 When finally she was in naught but her chemise, the Doctor approached her again. He reached out to her, but hesitated, not sure what to do first. Many things at once, and none of them quite so gentle as he knew he should be. Not to mention, it had been a long time. So long. What former control he had managed to hold over his body’s response to her dissipated with each ragged breath. He had fallen in love with her long ago, but always managed to keep his feelings and his desires closed off in a faraway corner of his mind.  Yet, here she stood before him, open to him like the flower of her namesake. His Rose. And she was radiant and beautiful in so many dangerous, yet simple ways that completely undid him.

Dangerous, because she was human, and it terrified him that he would possibly break every vow he ever made to himself to keep her part of his life.  She was the personification of human compassion; a torchlight for him to follow when his own superior intellect darkened the world around him.   


Simple, because she was human. An ordinary human with insufferable flaws and breathtaking attributes. Even now, he adored her as she fidgeted and blushed under the scrutiny of his darkened gaze.

The Doctor smiled, and with that, Rose seemed to regain her composure. She stilled her fidgeting, hands resting by her sides and her chin lifted. She quirked a slight smile at his perplexed expression that followed.

“My mysterious Doctor with his magical stagecoach… even you can’t stare the clothes off of me. Might want to try using your hands.”

The Doctor smirked as he pulled off his duster and pinstriped waistcoat to lay them over a nearby chair. “You did so well with your own clothes, I thought you might like to have a go with mine next.”

“Oh, is that what you’re waiting for?” Rose grinned, that tongue-touched grin that always quickened his hearts beat. She reached out to pull his shirt from the waistband of his trousers and slipped her hands underneath, splaying fingertips across his belly.

The Doctor sighed with the pleasure of her touch, her hands so hot against his cool flesh. His resolve broke and he swayed forward, eyes closed. Rose bent her head in to kiss the bit of his chest that was exposed above his shirt. Her hands circled around his waist to his back, where she then dragged her fingernails up and down his skin soothingly. He felt her tongue graze along his collar bone and couldn’t stop the groan that it wrenched from his throat. She had him now, so completely. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her anymore. Her hands moved out of the shirt and around again to his front so she could unbutton it and slide it off of his arms.

The Doctor’s head bowed further so he could nuzzle her neck. The floral scent of her hair enveloped him as he kissed behind her ear. “I’m sorry, Rose. I’m so sorry. About, well, about Rein—“

Rose pressed against his chest gently, garnering his attention in mid-sentence. “Don’t. I’ve a mind to ride you rotten on this billiard table. Wouldn’t want to ruin that, now, with talk of French prostitutes.”

The Doctor blinked at her boldness and felt the blood that had been roaring in his veins rush down to his groin. He clenched his fists against the increased urge to grab her and press her against the table. Would she like that side of him? Would it scare her? His need to possess her became overwhelming as her fingers hooked the front of his trousers.

“That’s much better,” Rose said, lashes fluttering in mock innocence as her hand slid down to cup his straining erection.

The Doctor grabbed her waist and gently turned her so her back met the side of the billiard table. She gasped and arched; his lips met her throat. Every press of her hand against his length made him kiss her harder. He gripped the edge of the billiard table as her thumb brushed over his cock’s aching tip. Even through his trousers, her touch was beyond exquisite. He involuntarily nipped the skin at the pulse point in her neck and she moaned.

“Doctor,” Rose breathed, “think this is too high?”

The Doctor knew she meant the table, but he didn’t really have an answer. He’d make it work, at least for what he wanted to do first. He decided to respond to her question with a kiss as his hands returned to her hips and he lifted her up, placing her before him on the billiard table. Rose laughed against his mouth and parted her legs.

The Doctor concentrated on the kiss as his senses became overwhelmed with the scent of her arousal. His trousers were now a painful barrier in dire need of removal, and so as his tongue curled against hers, he unfastened his trousers and slid them down. Rose’s hand returned to his length, fingers wrapping around it firmly so she could stroke him to oblivion. The Doctor’s kiss grew clumsy and he faltered, hips bucking forward into her hand.

Rose grinned; their foreheads met. He pulled up at her chemise and slid his hands underneath so he could grasp her thighs. His fingers slid higher with each pull of her hand on his cock. He gently pressed her back until her bum rested on the green felt and began to slide her chemise up to her waist. Rose caught on and teetered a bit, adjusting to her new position, and then released him so she could slide her chemise over her head and toss it aside.

The Doctor swallowed. His breathing grew labored as every last tether to his self-control was unwound by the vision of Rose leaning back and exposed to him. Her skin was flushed pink, and a golden glow from the lamp overhead highlighted her cheeks, the swell of her breasts, the soft descent of her belly and the curls at the apex of her legs.  He eyed her coy smile before leaning in to kiss the inside of her knee.

Rose bit her lip and her other leg fell open wider. She propped herself up on her elbows and watched him. He could sense her gaze with each kiss he placed along the inside of her thigh. As he drew closer to her center, he looked up over the arc of her body.  He watched her pebbled nipples as they rose and fell with each anticipatory breath, and licking his lips, he imagined closing his mouth around each peak. But that would have to happen later. The part of her closest to him wept for his attention, and he’d hate to keep her waiting much longer.

The Doctor hooked his arms under her legs and drew her pelvis a bit closer to him. He touched the tip of his tongue to her core, swirling it slowly to gather her juices and then slid it up along her inner folds. Rose moaned as his tongue approached her clit, but he remained indirect and circled around the swollen hood and back down through her slit to her opening. He then pressed his lips against her, tongue curling inside of her as he kissed this most intimate part of her body. Rose sighed and her head fell back, hair brushing the billiard table. The Doctor’s hands slid up her sides and his thumbs brushed underneath her breasts. He dragged his tongue back up through her folds and this time, flicked it over her clit.

Rose began to tremble in earnest, unable to withstand the immense pleasure and hold herself up to simultaneously watch. She whimpered as he flicked the tip of his tongue against her clit. Over and over, faster and faster. She finally gave up and lowered herself all the way, her hands sliding to her breasts so she could pinch and tease her nipples. The Doctor watched her, and moaned as his lips closed around her clit. Rose gasped, head tossing side to side. She was close. Her hands crept down to his head as her hips began to rock against his mouth.

The Doctor loved having her fingers in his hair, loved how she held him firmly in place. He fought the urge to take himself in hand and bring himself a bit of relief, and instead swept a hand across the outside of her thigh and brought it around so his fingertips could press against her opening.

“Yes!” Rose cried amid a series of rhythmic gasps. “Doctor…” Her nails dug into his scalp.

His tongue concentrated on her clit as he slid two fingers easily into her slick center. She was so unbelievably wet. He felt her clench around his fingers as he curled them against the spot inside of her that would drive her over the edge. Rose could no longer form a coherent word, or even moan with any consistency. She stiffened, her head thrown back, her breaths now quick, trembling gasps.

The Doctor pumped his fingers in and out of her. “Come for me, Rose,” he nearly growled. And with one final swipe of his tongue against her clit, she cried out and flew apart at the seams. He instantly catalogued her expression of pure bliss, how her sweaty hair stuck to the sides of her face and her skin was flushed with heat so that he would never, as long as he lived, forget this moment. He withdrew his fingers and slid them soothingly through her warm folds as he brought her gently down. He could sense her relaxing as he placed kisses along her thigh and on each knee.

Rose smiled through the fog of pleasure, eyes still closed, and attempted to reach out for him with flimsy arms. The Doctor, however, was preoccupied with licking her taste from his fingers, and upon realizing he had nothing handy to wipe his face with, he used the back of his hand. He was just about to lick that, too, when Rose cleared her throat.

“When you’re done, I’d like a hand up. This table’s getting rather uncomfortable against my back,” Rose teased, rolling over to her side.

The Doctor stopped abruptly, realizing he had gotten carried away. “Oh, yes, well. It got a bit messy.” His eyes swept over the length of her legs, the curve of her hip, the dip of her waist and swell of her breasts before settling on her face.

Rose smirked. “Proud?”

“Er… we-ell,” he scratched the back of his head, unable to hide his grin. If he were honest, then, yes, he was rather proud. Smug, in fact. He reached for her and helped her off the table, and as her feet touched the floor, she began to nudge him backwards.

“Your turn,” Rose said, pressing her warm body flush against his.

The Doctor felt his legs hit the chaise lounge behind him, and with nowhere else to go, he sat. Rose stood before him, staring down through dark lashes at his length. It twitched under her stare, and the Doctor couldn’t remember ever being this hard. He swallowed, anticipating her next move. She smiled and lowered herself to his lap, straddling his thighs.

“Tell me what you want,” Rose said as she pressed kisses under his ear and down along his neck.

“You,” the Doctor said, his voice hoarse. He rested his hands on her hips.

Rose chuckled, kissing the dip between his collar bones. “That’s quite obvious, my Doctor.” She slid a hand down his chest and gently stroked her fingertips up along the length of his cock.

“Rose,” the Doctor moaned.

“Still not specific enough,” Rose smiled.

The Doctor gave her a sideways smirk as his hands slid up her waist and over her breasts. He ducked forward and drew one nipple into his mouth. Rose looped her arms around his shoulders and arched to press her breast firmly against his lips. The Doctor swirled his tongue around her nipple and sucked as he pulled his mouth away gently, then moved on to the other nipple. Rose moaned softly and coaxed him on with fingers threading through his hair so she could keep him in place.  He wanted this moment to go on forever; to be wrapped in her scent with the sound of her pleasured sighs in his ear and the resonance of her heartbeat under his lips. He trailed kisses to the valley between her breasts and let his thumbs take over toying with her nipples. Her heartbeat was quick, yet steady, and her skin was warm and still pink from her climax.

“Is that all you want?” Rose breathed. She reached between them and took his erection in her hand once more. “You’ve been waiting so long.”

The Doctor withdrew from her breasts and fixed her with a darkened stare. “You said you’d ride me earlier. Now I can’t get it out of my mind. I’d very much like for you to keep your word.”

Rose laughed and shifted as she pressed him back to lie down on the lounge. She leaned over and kissed his lips with such gentle devotion that it almost threw him off track. For one instant, he wanted to do nothing else but kiss her. He slid his hands up her back and through her hair to brush it aside so he could trail kisses across the other shoulder.

But Rose had other plans. She adjusted her weight and lowered her warm folds over the Doctor’s cock as it rested against his belly. The Doctor shuddered at the sudden sensation and looked up at her. Rose began to glide her clit along the underside of his erection as she rose up for better leverage.

“That’s unique,” said the Doctor, eyes shifting down so he could watch. He found he couldn’t tear his eyes away, but her voice above him managed to reach him all the same.

“Ride you like this?” Rose said breathlessly, hips rolling with her efforts.

Oh, she was being cheeky. It was, indeed, quite pleasurable, but it wasn’t what he wanted. He gripped her hips again to halt her movements. “I’ll store away the visual for when I’m alone, but for now I’d much rather be inside of you.”

Rose smiled and tilted her hips as she slid up his length one more time. She reached down and guided him to her center and slowly lowered herself down.

The Doctor hissed and involuntarily thrust up into her. Rose gasped at the sudden sensation and he was afraid for a moment that he had hurt her, but she recovered quickly. She bit her lip from the pleasure as her hips began to rock with a steady rise and fall that was just enough to keep them both right at the edge and not tumble over too quickly. The Doctor watched her move over him, entranced at how much she was enjoying herself. She leaned down to catch his lips in a kiss and he groaned against her mouth at the feel of her breasts brushing his chest and her delicious heat surrounding him. She looked into his eyes and he felt as though he could fall into them, but she soon quickened her pace and his eyes slid shut. Rose sat up with a resounding ‘yes’ and he grasped at her hips with his free hand. His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her hips for leverage as he couldn’t help but thrust up into her. Exquisite pleasure began to wind up inside of him, a tight coil ready to burst. It only took a handful of erratic thrusts at this pace and he tipped over the edge. Much faster than he had wanted, but he’d fret over that later as bliss flooded his veins.

Rose slid her hands up his chest as she lay down on top of him, breathing just as heavily as he was. She kissed his shoulder and her hand found its way into his hair, thumb brushing his cheek and along the edge of his sideburn. The Doctor cursed how long it had been since he had done this, which kept him from being able to maintain control over his body so that she could reach her peak first. Guilt set in, but he wrapped his arms around her nevertheless and pressed kisses against the crown of her head.

“It’s been a while. Sorry,” the Doctor muttered against her hair.

Rose giggled a little, nuzzling his chest. “I wasn’t expecting you to get me off twice. Don’t worry about it.” She then lifted her head and searched his eyes with hers.

The Doctor waited, thinking she had something to say, but she never did. He offered her his warmest smile and she returned it in kind. But her smile slowly waned as her eyes began to glisten with tears. She ducked her head back down against his chest and sighed heavily. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything, and so he wrapped his arms around her.

At last, she spoke. “I don’t want this to ever end.”

The Doctor closed his eyes. Rose shifted her weight over him, bringing attention to how they were still connected. He ran a hand lazily through her hair as he thought of a thousand things he could say in response. Instead, he remained silent. Nothing he could say would change that this was inevitably a fleeting thing in the context of his long life.  Rose knew. Of course she knew, and yet she gave in as helplessly as he had.

///

The next day, the Doctor took Rose and Mickey back to Little London so they could rest and visit family. Relieved he got the date right this time, the Doctor called Rose and Mickey up to the driver’s box. He casually pulled the old blue stagecoach at the end of a row of shops above which Rose and her mother rented a small apartment. It wasn’t the best part of town, but the ability to live independently was a big deal in a world where widows and their daughters didn’t amount to much.

Mickey tipped his hat to the Doctor and gave Rose a warm hug before setting out to his own residence. Rose and the Doctor grasped hands and made their way down the dusty road to the end of the line of rickety wooden buildings. Rose smiled up at the Doctor as they climbed up the stairs that led to her apartment, feeling as though nothing could ever go wrong in the world again. The Doctor squeezed her hand before releasing it as Rose pushed open her apartment door.

“Ma!” Rose called out. “We’re home!”

“Rose! I’ll be out in a tic,” Jackie responded.

The Doctor hung back, unsure how his presence would be received. He closed the door carefully and surveyed his surroundings. Two rooms, sparse furniture, yet overflowing with trinkets, hand tatted or carved knickknacks, and crudely framed pictures. He smiled as he paused at a picture of Rose as a little girl sitting with her father in a wildflower patch.

Rose found him lingering at the entrance and took his hand. She rubbed her thumb over his as she guided him into the kitchen corner, where she sat him down at a small table and went to fixing a pot of tea. She set a cup in front of him and smiled briefly, whispering. “She seems in a good mood, thankfully.”

The Doctor smirked a bit and turned the cup of tea around in his hands nervously. The last time he came face-to-face with Rose’s mother, she had aimed the double barrel of a shotgun right at his chest. She had proven that one constant remained true throughout time and the universe: do not tempt a mother’s fury. 

Jackie emerged from the other room excitedly. “It’s about to happen, Rose! You… you! What in hell are you doing here?”

The Doctor stood abruptly as Jackie’s accusatory finger was aimed in his direction. The sound of his chair scratching across the wooden floor was on par with the shrill tone of her voice. “I was just leaving. Really.”

“You didn’t tell me this weasel was here,” Jackie said, her glare directed firmly at the Doctor.

Rose stepped between them. “Ma, it’s okay. See? I’m back. I’m safe.”

Jackie frowned and looked between them. “I have half a mind to call the sheriff. Who do you think you are? Prancing off with my daughter—you’re not—“

“Mother, just stop it. He’s not a weasel. He’s the Doctor, and I’m going traveling with him again and again and… what?” Rose furrowed her brow.

Jackie’s attention had shifted to the space in front of the stove. Her hands were now clasped together and pressed against her mouth in quiet expectation. “There!” She pointed to the stove’s general direction where the air began to shimmer like a mirage in the desert heat. Soon, a vague, transparent shape coalesced where the shimmer had been just seconds before.

Rose stared as the shape took on a more human form. She backed up a few paces and found herself pressed against the Doctor, his hand coming to rest on her waist.

“It’s Pete! Your father! He’s been visiting me at the same time every day…” Jackie’s voice wavered on the cusp between joy and pain.

Rose couldn’t take her eyes off of the ghostly figure. Whatever it was, she was certain that it wasn’t her father. She leaned in to whisper to the Doctor. “She’s gone mad. What do you reckon…?”

The Doctor watched, eyes narrowing. “Don’t know…”

“Pete! Say hello to Rose. Ain’t she grown? Don’t pay attention to that fella. He was just leaving.” Jackie moved closer to the ghost and shot another glare at the Doctor.

“Ma…” was all Rose could manage. She then saw movement out of the corner of her eye just outside the window over the kitchen table. Blinking in disbelief, she rounded on the window, tugging the Doctor’s elbow. “Doctor—look.”

Just outside on the street below were several similar ghostly figures.

“Really, Rose. You see him, don’t you?” Jackie asked.

The Doctor peered outside with Rose. “They’re everywhere!”

Rose tightened her grip on the Doctor’s arm. She trusted that even if he wasn’t immediately sure what was going on, if anyone could figure it out, it’d be him. But that didn’t ease the undercurrent of dread that settled in her bones.


	7. The Evasion Strategy

_Rose tightened her grip on the Doctor’s arm. She trusted that even if he wasn’t immediately sure what was going on, if anyone could figure it out, it’d be him. But that didn’t ease the undercurrent of dread that settled in her bones._

Rose felt the Doctor’s hand slip into hers, grasped it tightly, and before she could protest, he had tugged her out of the building, down the stairs, and into the street below.  She heard her mother calling out to her as they went, but she must have been too enthralled by the ghost to follow them.

“Doctor!” Rose called, managing to sound both surprised and accusatory.

“They aren’t ghosts, first off,” said the Doctor as he dropped her hand and fished in his duster pockets for his harmonic screwdriver.

All of the ghosts remained in place, motionless except for a subtle sway or head turn. Townsfolk emerged from businesses and homes along the street, making feeble attempts to interact with the mysterious apparitions. An old man fell to his knees before one of the ghosts near the general store across the street. He cried out a woman’s name and thanked God for her presence after so many years. 

Rose had to look away from him. Her jaw clenched at the bitter feeling that set in. “What are they?” she asked, glowering at the nearest ghost.

“Dunno. Definitely not spirits or anything quite so paranormal,” he said distractedly as he gathered readings from nearby ghostly figures with his screwdriver.

Rose walked up to the ghost and shivered from the cold air that surrounded it.  “Doctor, are we in danger?”

The Doctor patted his pockets and withdrew a pair of dark framed spectacles. He perched them on his nose and leaned in precariously close to one of the ghosts. “No. Not yet,” he said with another sweep of his harmonic screwdriver through the air. No sooner had he finished the flourishing arc, the ghost took a few steps forward—right through him.

The Doctor visibly shuddered. “Oh, that was rude. And cold!”

“Not yet…” Rose repeated and moved away from the ghost as it started walking. The townsfolk seemed to be familiar with this routine. They followed their assumed deceased loved ones, maintaining conversation as though they hoped they would respond at any moment. They never did. And within moments, they all vanished at once.

Rose did her best to avoid watching the townsfolk any longer and focused instead on the Doctor. He had removed his Stetson so that his wild hair was on display. She had to smile at how it always managed to look like such a beautifully orchestrated disaster, even after he’d been wearing a hat or fighting his way through monsters and smoke and fire.

He wandered over to her with an odd expression directed at his harmonic screwdriver. “I’m going to need the TARDIS.”

Rose nodded and wordlessly followed him to his beloved stagecoach. They climbed inside and the Doctor led her to a door that she had never realized was there before. He fumbled with the door and shouldered his way inside. Rose stepped into the room, eyes wide. The room was spherical with curving pylons that arched up from floor to ceiling. Rows of roundels lined the bowed walls, giving the impression that she had just stepped into a rather curious-looking ship. In the center of the room stood a circular control console that ringed a glowing green column.

Rose felt a bit silly with her mouth perpetually gaped in awe everywhere he took her. The light within the central column pulsed up and down, the entire room humming to match the light’s rhythm, soothing her.  Rose smiled at the comforting sensation, but then felt a tug somewhere in deep her mind. It was as though a presence had awoken that had always been there, dormant and waiting. She shivered at the conflicting sensations. “What is this place?” she finally whispered.

“This is the real driver’s box.” The Doctor stepped up to the control panel and began flipping switches and turning gears. “One of them. I use this one more as a research lab now. Of sorts.”

Rose wound her way across the peculiar metal floor and up to the console. She watched as he inserted his harmonic screwdriver into a slot by what appeared to be some sort of looking glass. Glowing circle patterns danced across the surface of the glass and she gasped at the sight.

“I could live a hundred years and still only know a small corner of your world…” Rose uttered under her breath as she touched the console. She felt her legs grow weak as the weight of that realization crashed over her. He had more layers than the Grand Canyon. And she knew this. She knew from the start that she could never completely know him. He’d admitted that his life was long and she figured there may even be depths he wouldn’t remember.

If he heard her at all, he didn’t respond. The Doctor simply stared at the array of circles, his mouth drawn in a thin line. Long minutes passed and finally he looked at her over the rim of his specs. The dark, starless sky of his gaze enveloped her and for a moment she allowed him to appear to her as wholly alien. She mentally parted the gauzy curtain of blind love for him and just let his eyes scan her as he had done with the ghosts. This is who he truly was—otherworldly, strange… and she loved him regardless.

“Rose,” he said softly. She blinked out of her thoughts and looked up at him. He continued once he had her attention, “It appears to have been a temporal fluke. A shift in space-time that has allowed another timeline to seep through. It is cyclical—happens weekly at this same time of day. I’ll need to try and get a lock on the coordinates so we can set it right.”

Rose nodded and allowed his words to flow through her mind. She didn’t quite understand them, but it didn’t matter. The peculiar presence she had felt upon walking into this room resonated uncomfortably. It unnerved her and, at the same time, she noticed that the ambient sounds of the room took on a different tone.

The Doctor pressed a button and his harmonic screwdriver was released by the console. He then led her out of the room and into the entrance room with the grand staircase. Rose felt the presence retreat from her mind a little and she made a face.

“What is it, Rose?” the Doctor asked. He flipped the screwdriver in his hand with a flourish and holstered it back in the inner breast pocket of his duster.

“Nothing. I—felt strange just then. When in that room.” Rose pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes.

The Doctor tilted his head. “Oh. I told you—the TARDIS has a link with your mind. It’s usually stronger there.”

“It didn’t feel right.”

“Better now?”

Rose lowered her hands and took a deep breath. “Yes.”

The Doctor smiled. It was a bright, eye-crinkling smile that radiated such joy that it made her smile in return. “Brilliant! Let’s go then,” he said.

“Where are we going first?” She moved closer to him, bathing herself in the warmth of his smile.

The Doctor winked and grasped her hand after removing and pocketing his spectacles. “First, we should make sure your mother is all right. Then, we need to search for the source of the time loop. Once we find it, we can put a stop to it. Whatever it is, it is generating an immense amount of energy to have such an effect.”

Rose nodded. “I think I should go alone to check on her. I’ll be back in two shakes, yeah?”

The Doctor nodded and tugged her hand so that she crashed into him. He wound his arms around her tightly and placed a kiss against her lips. Rose responded to the kiss instantly, pressing her lips against his bottom lip and then the top. The Doctor followed her lead, hands sweeping up her back and into her hair. After a moment, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pressed on them so that their kiss came to an end. He looked down at her silently, eyes moving from one detail of her face to another.

Rose returned his stare, though hers held quite a bit more confusion. The way he drank her in was as though he was afraid he might lose her at any moment. She was about to say something when his face erupted once more in that disarming, brilliant smile.

“I’ll be here. Take all the time you need,” he said and kissed her forehead before releasing her.

Rose smiled, but still felt wary. She turned away from him and headed out of the old blue stagecoach in a daze. They had made love and she thought that would bring them even closer. And it had in a way, but she couldn’t shake the sensation that something was a trifle off.  She hefted her skirts a bit as she climbed the stairs to the apartment she shared with her mother, making note of how snagged and worn they had become. A change was definitely in order and it would give her time to visit with her mother. She hoped her mother wouldn’t keep her too long. It frightened her to think that each time she rode off with the Doctor, she missed home less and less.

///

Rose returned to find the Doctor leaning back in the driver’s box of his stagecoach with his hands behind his head and his boots kicked up on control panel edge. She had changed into a more sensible outfit than the stuffy, constricting day dress she’d been wearing before: A dark purple off-the-shoulder, fishtail dress cinched at the waist with a metal-clasped, lavender brocade corset. A leather belt and holster was slung around her hips, and the front of her dress brushed her thighs, revealing thigh-high stockings and knee-high brown suede spats. She decided to forego the bustle, which caused the back hem of her dress to hang lower—dancing just above her ankles. Her hair was free of the array of pins and combs she’d been wearing before as well. Loose strands fluttered around her face in a dusty breeze. She tucked it behind her ears and squinted up at the Doctor, wondering if he had fallen asleep.

“How’s your mother?” the Doctor asked, tipping up the brim of his hat to peer down at her.

“Ah, you’re not asleep.” Rose shrugged slightly and walked around to the step. “She’s as fine as she’s going to be, considering. She really believes that it’s my dad…said it’s been going on for weeks.”

“Sometimes believing makes it more real than if it actually were.” The Doctor smiled as he looked her over. His eyes paused at her holster and he tugged at his ear. “Er, you won’t need a gun, Rose.” He leaned across the seat to offer his hand.

“Oh, this thing?” Rose smiled, tongue peeking through her teeth as she thumbed the holster. “Let’s hope you’re right.” She accepted his help and climbed up to sit next to him. She settled in very close, her thigh pressed tightly against his.

“Why, are you a poor shot?” the Doctor smirked as he snapped the reins.

“Oh, I’ve learned a thing or two.” She didn’t want to admit that the last time she’d brandished a pistol was at a tin can on a fence post when she was ten years old.

They pulled away from the row of buildings and headed off down the main road and out of town. A couple of miles of prairie fields passed before the Doctor leaned forward and danced his fingers across the console to bring the TARDIS into the aether. Rose smiled as the dreamlike state flooded her senses. She looked up to the deep violet sky and marveled at how it gradually shifted to a brilliant orange and gold at the horizon. Just moments before it had been pale blue. She rested her head against the Doctor’s shoulder and scanned the landscape as it faded from enormous, jagged rock silhouettes to the gentle outline of a forest.

“What do you see around us?” asked Rose.

“Everything. Every time line whirling past…”

Rose looked up at him. “Is it beautiful? It sounds like it would give me a headache.”

The Doctor cracked a sideways simile. “I’m used to it.”

“I see a forest, but just a moment ago it was a huge frozen lake.”

“Mm. Places that are deserts were once forests and could become a frozen lake in ten million years.” He draped an arm around her and his fingers gently crawled along the bare skin of her shoulder.

Rose exhaled a sigh of pleasure at his touch. Her mind shifted so fast from wonder at deserts giving way to ice, to memories of his mouth between her thighs that she squirmed. She smiled to herself, recalling his lean, firm body beneath her and how firmly he had gripped her hips as he lost control. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to touch him. They had gone from hand holding and wistful glances to the most intimate display of physical affection practically overnight. Would he welcome her touch any time now? Her face grew hot at the thought. Answering her own dare, she placed a hand on his thigh. After several moments without protest on his part, she slid her hand up higher, fingers brushing deeper between his legs. She hadn’t quite reached her destination when he shifted, jostling her enough so that she pulled away her hand.  She looked up at him; saw the tension in his jaw and the shudder in his breath.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, worried she had been too forward.

“What ever for?” he asked, expression shifting to a delightful smile.

“Ah—nothing.” Rose bit her lip and settled against him once more, but this time kept her hands in her lap. She decided to change the topic. “So… about the ghosts. Where are we searching first?” A pregnant silence followed. Rose was about to ask the question again when he finally spoke.

“They gave off a temporal frequency that was hard to triangulate, but the first possibility is in the distant future, so that’s when we’re heading next. The TARDIS has all of the potential coordinates, so we’re hitting them in order.”

Rose nodded silently.

“And, Rose Tyler…” He pulled her closer against him with the arm he had draped around her and leaned over so that his breath tickled her ear. “You never need to apologize for touching me. I was just, ah… adjusting.”

Rose’s eyes fluttered closed momentarily before she scoffed. “Or, you were afraid you’d have trouble steering and we’d end up on the moon.”

The Doctor put his hand to his chest and gave her an incredulous look. “Not at all! I’m an excellent driver. I could steer through a hurricane! Forget that one time we were a year off. Or that other time we ended up inside a temple during a sacrifice. That was awful. Or… ah, more often than not, I get us where we need to go. Speaking of—we’re here. It’s a shame, too. I was really looking forward to showing you how well I can steer a stagecoach while you grope me.”

Rose laughed. “Well, aren’t _you_ humble.”

“Not easy for a man like me to be humble. Take a look around. Just one of the many fascinating places I can take you.” The Doctor beamed with pride. “I promise we’re here on purpose.”

Rose blinked as she looked past him and to their surroundings.  Silver-gray, rocky terrain stretched on for miles and miles beyond the glass border of some kind of enclosure in which they had parked. An endless black sky curved overhead, speckled with countless stars. Her eyes were instantly drawn to a blue and white sphere drifting in the inky darkness.

“Wh…where are we?”

“The moon, Earth’s moon. Yes—many hundreds of years into the future. We’re in a habitat dome. Specifically just outside of a temperate deciduous forest, so no one should bother us… except perhaps a forest ranger. Or a bear.”

Rose climbed out of the stagecoach and stared in awe of her surroundings. She was sure he kept talking, but his voice sounded so far away. Her lips parted, countless words racing to her tongue and vanishing as she tried to make sense of it all. She wandered to the edge of the enclosure and her hand lifted up, seemingly on its own accord, as though she could touch the floating Earth.

The Doctor walked up next to her and took her other hand in his. Rose blinked tears from her eyes as she glanced up at him. He smiled and she felt him squeeze her hand.

“This is the most beautiful and yet terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. I—I can’t… I don’t know what to say.” She dropped his hand and covered her face to hide her tears. It was overwhelming. How could this be real? One day she just knew she would wake up from this dream and the Doctor would be gone, the moon and earth would switch back to their proper places, and none of the cultures and breathtaking lands she had seen will have ever existed.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to say a word. I thought you’d like it… I hope I haven’t upset you.”

Rose laughed in spite of her tears. “I can’t believe we’re on the moon!” She spun around, her skirt flaring out and offering him a glimpse of her knit stocking-clad legs. She came to a stop facing him, her skirt swaying back in place. “Kiss me, you ridiculous man.”

The Doctor’s eyes leapt from her legs to her lips in an instant. He swooped forward, gently captured her face in his hands, and brought his lips down on hers. Rose responded with an intensity fueled by the cocktail of emotions swarming through her body. Her arms slid around his waist as she pulled their bodies impossibly close. His tongue flicked along the seam of her lips and she opened for him, her tongue curling against his wantonly. She felt as though she were spinning, tilting on an axis and forever caught in his gravity. She gasped out a moan when his lips left hers to seek out the bared flesh of her throat. His hands slid down to her waist as he kissed and nipped down to her cleavage.

The Doctor’s horse whinnied loudly in that instant, startling them apart. She snorted, shook her mane, and hoofed the ground in agitation. The Doctor spun around just as the horse plowed forward, nearly knocking them both off their feet in their attempt to scramble away. The crunch and grind of stagecoach wheels reverberated across the enclosure, startling a small cluster of deer that had been grazing the long grass at the edge of the forest.

The Doctor grasped Rose’s arms. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” Rose blew a lock of hair from her lips. Her heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the TARDIS horse. “What in blazes was that all about?”

They looked up to see the horse had turned the stagecoach nearly all the way around. The horse had resumed grazing as though nothing had happened.

“Stay here,” said the Doctor. He released her and crossed the distance to the TARDIS in just a few determined strides. He climbed aboard and ducked inside. Silence followed.

Rose furrowed her brow at the horse. “Burr under your saddle?”

The horse snorted, but went on grazing.

Rose looked up once more at the distant Earth. She shivered in a phantom breeze and rubbed her arms for warmth. The expanse of the universe pressed ominously against her from all sides making her thankful for the glass dome overhead. She remembered the ghosts as she watched the night sky. There was obviously no sign of them in their current location. After a complete sweep of her surroundings, unhindered by the awe she had felt at first, she noticed three things.

First, there was a copse of trees opposite of where they stood. Within its cluster of gnarled trunks and dense leaves was a thick, metal door. Second, there was a strange, horseless carriage with blinking lights heading their way across the moon’s surface. And third, there was a red, rotating light way overhead that illuminated a grid-like pattern in the area of the enclosure under which they stood. All of these things were nonsensical on their own. She had never before seen such technology—however, all together, she couldn’t help but sense that they had triggered some kind of alarm. She rushed over to the TARDIS just in time for the Doctor to emerge from the stagecoach.

“Rose! We need to leave. Now!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Rose sprinted to the TARDIS and practically flung herself at the driver’s box as the Doctor clamored for the reins. He spurred the stagecoach into flight, jostling Rose against him. She held on for dear life while at the same time craning her neck to see if they were still in danger.

A spotlight flared overhead, encompassing them in blinding light. Yet, within seconds, it was all gone and Rose found herself gazing out at pitch black space.

The Doctor crooned with laughter. “How was that, Rose? We were almost caught by one of the most notoriously strict regimes in the moon’s history!”

Rose blinked at his reaction, lifting an eyebrow. But his laughter was infectious and she soon found herself in stitches just from the sound of it. When she finally caught her breath, she slouched against him. “Oh, my god. I take it they had nothing to do with those ghosts?”

The Doctor’s smile waned slightly before he responded. “Ah—no. Appears those coordinates were a miss.” His smile returned as though it had never left and he looked over at her. “But, Rose, you were on the moon!”

Rose’s laughter tapered off to giggles. Soon she was struck with the desire to climb on his lap and kiss him senseless. She wondered just how important it was for him to keep his eyes on the path ahead. “Doctor?”

“Hmm?”

“Is the TARDIS heading to the next set of… ah, forgot that word you used.”

“Coordinates?”

“Yes, coordinates.” Rose said, her voice lowered as she turned to face him fully.

“She is, yes. And it looks like an odd one…” the Doctor said as he tapped the narrow control panel.

“Would it affect navigation at all if I distracted you a little?” Rose smiled at him sweetly as she slid a hand down the v of his waistcoat.

The Doctor looked down at her hand and up into her eyes. “Not in the slightest.”

“In that case…” Rose lifted up and slung a leg over his thighs so that she straddled his lap. She leaned in and pressed a kiss on that sensitive spot behind his ear. His hands moved up her thighs, fingers slipping under the strap of her garters as her lips moved down his jaw and further to his neck.

The Doctor growled and pressed his fingertips hard into the flesh of her thighs. Rose gasped against his throat, pleasure and pain converging to send sparks through her body. He nudged her temple with his nose and kissed her cheek. She answered by tilting her head back to place a lingering kiss at the corner of his mouth. Her tenderness briefly tempered the fervor that threatened to consume them both. The Doctor removed a hand from her thigh and brought it up to brush his fingers through the golden strands of her hair. His kiss shifted to match the gentle glide of her lips over his. Rose slid her body closer to him and every muscle relaxed against his lean form. The contact of his hardening length against her warm center made her arch, her mouth opening over his as she moaned. Her tongue swept past his lips, soft and seeking at first. His tongue met hers and she rolled her hips, coaxing more friction against her sex. The Doctor met her with a thrust and he clenched his fingers in her hair, his kiss now desperate.

Rose’s hands had been lazily stroking his back, but his urgency spurred her into action once more. She brought her hands around and slid them under his duster, gripped his shirt and yanked it up out of his trousers. The Doctor groaned as her hands plunged under his waistcoat and shirt, nails dragging across the cool flesh of his back, sides and around to his belly. Their lips met clumsily, teeth bumping. Rose gasped in mid kiss as she felt him palm her breast, thumb zeroing in on her hardened nipple through the cotton fabric of her dress. He pressed her back slightly as his mouth moved away from hers and to the swell of her breasts. His teeth grazed her nipple before he took it into his mouth, sucking firmly. A flat stroke of his tongue finished off this delicious onslaught and Rose trembled, feeling the pleasure resonate straight to her clit. The wet fabric was cold against her taut flesh when his mouth left it to seek out the other breast. She sighed, her head swimming from the heady cocktail of overwhelming love and sheer, carnal want.

“Doctor…” Rose urged, her hand sliding over his length. It practically throbbed in her hand in time with each moan and gasp that fled her lips. She suddenly wanted to do nothing more than to taste his cock.

The Doctor was lost in exploring her breasts. He peeled down her dress to expose her breasts. They sat high and firm, pushed up and together by the corset. He placed kisses just above the line of her cleavage and over to her right nipple. Rose smiled and braced the back of his head with her fingers in his hair, her other hand still stroking him. Before he could close his mouth over her nipple again, however, she pulled his head away with a tug at his hair. The Doctor winced and searched her face, his eyes darker than ever.

Rose patted his hair back in place, reassuring him that he hadn’t done anything wrong, and pressed him back gently against the seat. His expression flickered from concern to confusion. Rose eased his worries further as she nudged his knees apart and lowered herself between them. She had already worked his erection out of his trousers and it rested against his abdomen, impossibly hard.

Rose licked her lips as she leaned closer. He groaned in anticipation, breath hitching. Rose swept her tongue up the length of his cock from base to tip, drawing a bead of precome into her mouth. The Doctor’s head rolled back, but he jerked it up again as there was nothing behind him for it to rest against. She smiled, eyes meeting his before she swirled her tongue around the tender head and closed her mouth over him. The Doctor fought the urge to buck into her throat—she could sense the strain in his posture and how his knuckles were white as he gripped the seat edge. Taking him deeply into her mouth, she finally grasped the base of his cock and sucked as she pumped her hand to establish a relentless pace. She felt the leg she’d been leaning against begin to tremble and his hand found its way to the top of her head. He clearly couldn’t hold back any longer. His hips thrust forward slightly and he groaned with the effort it took to hold back. Rose slipped him out of her mouth, yet her tongue kept contact, massaging just under the head of his cock.

“R—Rose…” the Doctor urged.

Rose looked up at him, at the raw desire etched on his face, and deep affection swelled in her chest.

“I…” Rose swallowed as the urge to tell him how she felt nearly escaped her lips. He tilted his head, listening. Instead of finishing, she rose to her feet. His eyes followed her movements and he shifted to sit up straighter, worry tugging at the corner of his mouth. Lifting her skirt, she hooked her thumbs in her knickers and slid them down. She wobbled slightly and nearly fell over as she tried to pull them off. Her cheeks grew hot with embarrassment as she felt her sexual prowess falter. Rose shook the knickers from her shoe, now incredibly self-conscious.

The Doctor grinned, watching her. He reached out a hand to steady her. “Just how long are you going to stay with me, Rose Tyler?”

“Forever,” Rose responded through her awkwardness without hesitation.

The Doctor tugged at her hand and pulled her to his lap, smiling. Rose returned his smile as she felt him align with her core. She sank down, eyes closing as the pleasure of him filling her ignited every nerve in her body. Her lips parted and she tilted her head back as his mouth found her throat. She fell into rhythm with him, rising and falling like a boat caught in the gentle sway of the ocean. For the first time since they began making love, she felt the ceaseless ebb and flow of time pass around them, enhancing the charge that swept through her body with each of his thrusts. The Doctor pulled her ever closer, hands clutching her to his body as though he could meld them together permanently. He rested his forehead against hers and her eyes fluttered open at the contact. His eyes were closed tightly and his lips were parted. Rose brought her hand up to caress his face as she focused on his bottom lip. God, did she love him, and soon she would admit it to him. If he didn’t already know.


	8. The Long Road is Home

Rose stepped out of the blue stagecoach and her bare feet met a carpet of soft moss. She wiggled her toes against the spongy sensation and grinned. “Where are we now, Doctor?”

The Doctor hopped out of the driver’s box with a bit of a flourish and looked around. “Boston, Massachusetts!” He sniffed and thumbed the pockets of his trousers. “Well, it will be in a few hundred years. We’re pre-colonial. A relatively more peaceful era for the people here.”

Rose frowned as she stared at the surrounding forest. Everything was damp from a recent rainstorm, and she breathed in deeply. The earthy, humid air was laced with the faint scent of salt from the nearby sea. She followed the patch of moss down to a stream swollen with rain and dipped her toes in the cool water.

The Doctor followed and leaned against a tree, admiring her. “We’re not too far from the Charles River and the Back Bay area of Boston. This stream is one of about eighty streams that feed it. Should be people around someplace; a thriving fishing community. In the near future, well, relative to your time—so, in the early 1900’s, discoveries of Fishweirs will be made during the excavation for a subway. Someday this whole area will be nothing but reinforced concrete, steel, and glass.”

Rose looked up through the trees, imagining the city of glass and metal that Sarah Jane had mentioned visiting with the Doctor. She turned to face him then—her eyes squinted, sizing him up. “Doctor, this is the third place that you’ve taken me. The future moon, ancient Yosimite Valley, now pre-colonial Boston. All beautiful places, mind…but—no sign of the ghosts.”

The Doctor shrugged. “I’ve noticed.”

“Isn’t that a bit strange?” Rose tilted her head and faced him fully.

“Would you like to go for a walk to see the bay? We could skip stones. I love skipping stones, don’t you? Could do it on the Charles River, but I’d imagine it’s a bit muddy.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Doctor, you’re about as thick as mud. Are we making progress at all?”

The Doctor sighed and his shoulders slumped. “Rose, I’m sorry. This is a tricky process. Yes, I’ve noticed that we seem to be chasing our tails, but I’m certain that these places are relevant to what’s going on. My guess is we’re hitting places where the ghosts appear, but just at the wrong moment. But isn’t it nice to sightsee in the meantime? Learn a bit of natural history?”

“So when were you going to let me in on this hunch?”

The Doctor’s hand went for his ear, swept through his hair. His Adams apple bobbed visibly. “I was hoping it wouldn’t matter. You know we travel in time. We can take all the time we need as long as we avoid fixed points.”

Rose was inches away from him in just a few quick strides. “Doctor, I appreciate all you’ve shown me. I love traveling with you. But, meanwhile my mother is sitting in her kitchen talking to a phantom that sure as hell ain’t my father. We went to the future. That means whatever was going on had already happened. Yeah?”

“It doesn’t work that way.” The Doctor sighed and scrubbed his hands down his face before he reached out for her shoulders and squeezed them gently. “Rose, just… trust me, all right? I’d never intentionally do anything that would put you—or your mother—in more danger than both of us could handle. We’ll figure it out. Your mother is safe. I promise.”

Rose stared up at him and acknowledged the sincerity in his eyes. She softened her stance and swallowed. “Doctor, if it doesn’t work that way—if we could go anywhere right now and it wouldn’t put her in danger…”

The Doctor waited, and when she couldn’t seem to get the rest out, he swept his thumb reassuringly over the soft skin where her shoulder met her neck. “Yes, Rose?”

“You know how I told you that my pa died in a carriage accident on the way to a wedding?” Rose said finally, eyes downcast.

“Yes.”

“She told me that he died alone. No one saw it happen—and the other driver couldn’t stop his carriage. They supposed that his horse was spooked and had bolted out of control. Just kept on going wild off the road and into the surrounding fields. Spooked my father’s horse also, and he hit a stone and turned a wheel.”

The Doctor listened quietly to her story. A rush of sorrow seized him as he bared witness to how much it affected her.

Rose sighed before she continued. “He fell from the carriage and hit his head. Was dragged for a bit and trampled. It’s—well. I’ve always hated that he died alone. If I could change one thing, I’ve always said, if I could go back in time I’d make sure he didn’t die alone. Nobody should have to.”

The Doctor knew what she was asking of him. “You’ve wanted to ask me that for a long time, haven’t you?” He leaned in and kissed her, quick and firm. She was so kind—his pink and yellow Rose. He had no doubt in his mind that if she had the power to, she’d make sure no one in the world ever had to die alone. “It’s a fixed point in time, love.”

Rose nodded, her eyes still closed after he’d kissed her. She opened them, blinked away tears, and looked up in hopes they would dry as quickly as they had appeared. “I know. I don’t know what I’m asking. It was silly.”

The Doctor’s hands slid down her arms and grasped her hands, giving them a slight tug. “Come on. I’ll see what we can do.”

///

The Doctor took Rose to the scene of her father’s death, disregarding ancient rules of avoiding paradoxes. It was wildly irresponsible. So much could go wrong and so much had. She missed her first chance. Pete had died before she could reach him and the Doctor knew it was wrong to let her try again. Knew that it could result in the kind of danger he had promised her he wouldn’t voluntarily put her through. But if he were completely honest with himself (and he often wasn’t), he’d remember that he was ridiculously in love with her and love does silly things to a person’s reasoning abilities. And so he let her try again. He could control the situation, he’d reassured himself. All would be well.

Yet to his horror, Rose saved Pete’s life. She rushed out, brushing by her past self and into the road. She flagged him over just seconds before the out-of-control carriage careened past in a red ochre cloud. Pete hopped out of the driver’s box and shouted his relief to the settling motes of dust before he turned to Rose.

“I did it! I saved your life!” Rose reached out for Pete, her eyes searching him over in disbelief that he was really there.

Pete swept her up in a thankful hug, set her down and doubled over, hands on his knees. He exhaled a big whoosh of relief; the Doctor could practically hear the man’s heart thudding in his chest from across the road.

“Did you see if that carriage had a driver? It was all a blur.” Pete said as he caught his breath.

“Oh, my God, I did it!” Rose placed her hand on Pete’s back. “It was gonna kill you.”

The Doctor was furious. How could she do this to him? To herself? He rebuked her with stony silence as they hitched a ride with Pete to the nearby town where the wedding was to take place.

Then the reapers came and began to devour the world around them.

It was all set straight in the end, by Pete no less. The runaway carriage kept appearing near him as the universe struggled to correct the error. He’d realized in the end that he’d have to sacrifice himself to reset the timeline. Without so much as a word to the remaining survivors of the Reapers’ wrath, Pete rushed headlong into the oncoming carriage and met the unfortunate fate that had been intended for him.

The Doctor watched in sorrow while Rose held Pete’s hand as he took his last breath. He’d been able to give her what he hadn’t been able to give himself when his family had perished. Closure.

///

A swarm of emotions engulfed Rose in the days that followed: Elation at finally meeting her father; shame that she might have erased herself from existence; relief that the danger had been resolved, and fear that she had destroyed the Doctor’s trust in her. Her actions were careless, but she accomplished what she had set out for in the beginning. It awoke in her a belief that anything was possible. And she should have known this the moment the Doctor strode into her life—but it took a very personal moment to seal it in her heart. 

The Doctor was distant towards her when they had returned to their proper time and she couldn’t blame him. Her actions had put him in danger as much as herself. She had found him brooding in the library that evening with specs poised on his nose and an open book in his lap. He had removed his duster and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, but kept the pinstriped waistcoat in place. She looked him over, finding him as gorgeous like this—tired eyes, slouched posture, and mouth drawn in a bit of a frown, as when his eyes were alight with mischief and his teeth glinted in one of his breathtaking grins. 

Rose sighed to herself and crossed the room, bracing herself for rejection. The Doctor stared pensively at the space between himself and the book, not acknowledging her presence until she sat next to him. He set the book down after marking his place with a red ribbon and looked over at her, his expression unreadable.

“I’m sorry, Doctor.” Rose said.

The Doctor smiled a little. “It was my fault. I knew it was risky.”

Rose shook her head. “I’m still sorry. Sorry I put you in danger. But, I don’t regret being there for him.”

“I know. You shouldn’t.”

“Do you still want me to travel with you?” Rose found his hand and laced her fingers through his.

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“On account of me nearly gettin’ us erased from time,” Rose said through a sheepish smile.

“Oh, well, that was rather irresponsible. But, I’ve done much worse. I’d have to stop travelling with myself, and probably should have. But then things would get awfully boring.” The Doctor fully grinned and squeezed her hand.

She found herself smiling back despite her confusion. “You’ve been brooding, though.”

The Doctor’s grin remained fixed and he lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “I promise that the thought of dropping you off at home never once crossed my mind.”

Rose exhaled a breath she’d been holding since she entered the room. “I’ve never seen you that angry.” She watched him fondly, a heated blush rising to her cheeks as he turned over her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.

“That was nothing.” He continued to trail kisses up her arm and then nuzzled her neck.

Rose closed her eyes and tilted her head to give him better access to her neck. Her worries ebbed with every brush of his lips on her skin. “I’ll do my best to stay on your good side,” she murmured.

The Doctor chuckled against her throat. His hand dropped hers and moved to rest on her knee. “Smart woman.”

Rose laughed and gave him a playful shove. “Though if this is a glimpse into your bad side, I might have to do something else brash.”

He easily regained his momentum and gently pressed her back down against the sofa. She complied, practically melting against the cushions as he hovered over her. Though, when she looked up at him, he was no longer smiling.

“I trust you,” he said simply and kissed her with the reverence of the sun kissing the horizon.

///

The Doctor was relieved that Rose hadn’t brought up the ghosts since their brief visit to the Massachusett people’s region.  And so, the next day, he took her far into Earth’s future. They settled on a hill where the grass smelled like apples and watched metal carriages soar through the sky over a shimmering city in the distance. He spread out his coat and they lay side by side. Rose sat up, having seen something peculiar in the distance, and marveled at it, whatever it was, as the Doctor marveled at her. Rose’s golden hair, which had been styled in loose waves, rustled in a passing breeze, exposing the arc where her neck and shoulder met. He could tell she was grinning, though she wasn’t facing him.

“I’ll never get used to this. Never.” She turned to him fully. “Nor do I want to. What’s that smell? Like apples.”

“Apple grass,” he answered as he squinted through the bright sun. She was in partial silhouette from the brightness, the exposed skin at her shoulders glinting around the edges like faerie fire.

“It’s beautiful,” Rose said. She looked back out over the broad river that separated their hill from the city. “Oh, I love this. Just how do they stay in the air without balloons or sails?”

“Steam power eventually gives way to something else and the vehicles have to be adapted. Much more efficient, really. Steam powered vehicles are quite heavy and not as maneuverable.” The Doctor stood and reached out his hand to help her up. She grabbed his duster on her way to her feet and helped him slide it on as it danced in the wind.

“Can I just say—traveling with you, I love it.” Rose hooked her arm through his and grinned.

“Me too,” was all he could muster through the lump in his throat. “Come on!”

He grasped her hand and they ran down the hill towards the sky ferry station that would taxi them to the city proper.

///

Rose sat next to the Doctor in the driver’s box as they drifted through the aether. They had just left Scotland, having faced a werewolf and Queen Victoria herself. She stretched her arms overhead and yawned. “Henrik’s feels like ages ago.”

The Doctor also leaned back, elbows resting on the padded wooden seatback. “Do you miss it?”

She laughed. “Not at all. I didn’t mind dressing up and singing and dancing, but not the men. Not the hands all over me. But the pay was worth it.”

“I bet they had a hell of a time trying to find someone as good as you,” the Doctor said.

“Queen Victoria would’ve certainly not been amused if she knew what I used to do for a living.” Rose wanted to laugh, but the sound was trapped in her throat. She leaned forward and curled her fingers in the coarse blue fabric of her skirt. “What I used to do…”

The Doctor sat forward with her. “Something the matter?”

Rose shook her head and smiled a little. “Just realizing what I’ve left behind.” She caught the Doctor’s worried look out of the corner of her eye, his bottom lip pushed out and brow knit. He didn’t say anything more.

“When I first started traveling with you, I didn’t even consider how it would affect her. My mother. Just thought about how I finally felt free, and how the sky with all its stars and the earth with all its wonders were at my fingertips. When we went back to visit last, she told me she’d taken on more clients so she could pay rent. She didn’t scold me, but I felt guilty. She was even hired at the seamstress’ shop in the nicer part of town after workin’ out a deal with the owner. She’d treat the fancier ladies who came in to a haircut and style while their dresses were being mended, and do a bit of hemming and button-sewing herself if there were no takers.” Rose sighed and worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “But, even so… I could tell she blamed me. But, I don’t want to go back to that life. I can’t. I’m too…” She let the thought trail off, not sure where it was going.

“We should focus on the ghost mystery," the Doctor offered.

Rose looked over at him, relieved that he didn’t press her further. “It’s what we do best, yeah? Solving mysteries. Helping people who might not even realize they’re in the worst kind of danger.”

The Doctor nodded, smiling. “Cosmic detectives.”

Rose tilted her head back and laughed. Joy surged through her at the very feel of it, as though it had been waiting behind a dam. There was a point when she was no longer laughing at the image he’d conjured in her mind and just laughed for the pleasure it gave.

The Doctor stared at her, confused. “Was it that funny? I’ll admit, sometimes I miss the mark on the humor of your era, but usually in the opposite direction.”

Rose laughed harder at that and leaned against him to catch her breath. “I’m sorry—I just.” Tears slipped through her tightly closed eyes as her body shook with the effort to corral her giddiness. “It felt good to laugh.”

“Ah, I love a good laugh.” The Doctor grinned. “Endorphins released, intake of oxygen increases.”

Rose wiped the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t realize how much I needed one.”

“Well, then. Let’s go, Deputy Inspector Tyler. We have a mystery to solve.” The Doctor’s grin broadened, fine lines spreading from the corners of his eyes as he reached for the control panel.

Rose watched as his long fingers worked a sequence of buttons and levers, locking in a destination. Something dawned on her then. “So, these ghosts. Or whatever they really are—you reckon they originate in the same time period? Is there a way to figure that out based on all these coordinates?”

The Doctor’s expression darkened as he stared ahead. He shook off whatever had come over him in an instant and turned towards her, lips curling in a wolfish grin. “Are you deducting?” His eyes narrowed as he eyed her playfully.

It was ridiculous how quickly he could make desire coil at her core without even touching her. She lifted her chin, proud of herself, and peered at him through thick lashes. “I think I am. Permission to follow-up, Sarge?”

“What you’re referring to is triangulation.” The Doctor pulled up the looking glass in the console and the screen filled with a similar pattern of circles as she had seen in the strange control room inside the TARDIS. “And here’s where we’ll need to go next.” He pointed to a rotating circle containing various other circles and lines all ticking in different directions. “New York, our time. Well, just a few months off.”

///

Rose arrived with the Doctor in New York expecting to find nothing, just like all the times before. Instead, they encountered haunted telegraph wires that stole people’s faces and threatened lives. Including her own.

While faceless, Rose had to rely only on touch and sound to make sense of her surroundings. But it was more than that—that was just her body. Her mind was elsewhere, with her face. She had to piece together two versions of herself as though she were split in two places at once. In one place, she felt the cold, metal bars of a cage in which she’d been sequestered. She heard the soft shuffle of feet and fabric of others around her who also had their faces harvested and their bodies cast out like empty husks. Whilst in the other place, she saw nothing but an endless void of white. The air had an overwhelming burnt metallic scent. It was a difficult smell to pin down, like the potential for forward motion, but not the motion itself. Something not too unlike the sparks that shower from squealing train brakes or a torch just before it flared to life.

Breathing between two worlds became excruciating. Every inhale burned her lungs. Every exhale, a shock of ice. It terrified her. She screamed out for the Doctor and peered into the endless white space, searching for him, but he wasn’t there. Had never been there. Would never be there. She was alone and every moment that passed reinforced a belief that she always had been. It coiled in her mind like a serpent, squeezing out memories.

And then she heard his voice. She felt his touch on her skin and tried to piece together the two realities. The one where he existed and the other where he didn’t.

“In the street. They left her in the street. They took her face and just chucked her out and left her in the street. And as a result, that makes things simple. Very, very simple. Do you know why?” the Doctor said to someone else in the room. Bishop, his name was.

Rose wanted to throw her arms around him and use him as an anchor to keep the other part of her stuck in the other reality from fading away completely. But he’d left. He had to, to resolve the threat. But she’d heard his voice and felt its vibrations wash over her, imprinting on her like a tattoo on a part of her body that she couldn’t see.

When her face had been reunited with her body, the serpent released itself from her mind. She hugged the Doctor, laughed with him and shared a cloying orange drink under red, white, and blue banners. A neighborhood celebrated the fourth of July around them, but they felt so far away.

Once inside the TARDIS, they held each other for hours.

///

The Doctor watched Rose as she slept beside him. Her hair was stuck to her face and neck, still damp from making love. She sighed in her sleep and settled against him as he pulled the sheet up over her breasts, and kissed her forehead. He knew he should be honest with her, but it would mean opening up to her in a way he had not opened up to anyone else. Ever. She had accepted him for the outsider that he was—not only to her town, but to her time. She knew that he was a time traveller, that he lived a long life, and that his people were all gone.

What she didn’t know was that he was from several million years in the future in a time when the Earth had been burnt alive and renewed as the resilient planet had done many times over. A time when the Earth would be known instead as Gallifrey and its skies would sear with hues of crimson and gold. And once she knew that, and had accepted it, he’d have to then reveal his darkest secret of all: it no longer existed. At least not as a planet. And it was by his hands that it was destroyed, blown apart and now circled the sun as particles of dust.

He’d been able to escape the cataclysm as his TARDIS fell into a time-well created by a shockwave from the blast, bringing him to her time, millions of years in the past. But that wasn’t his intention—he wanted to be destroyed along with everything else. He had never once imagined that he’d survive, and wandered for many years in Rose’s time, trying to come to terms with what he’d done. It was necessary, he’d assured himself. His Earth—Gallifrey—had not been a peaceful place for centuries. Humans, like Rose, had left Earth in droves during the 51st century. They sought out new homes as they fled an increasingly uninhabitable environment and explored the vast landscape of space for places to settle. Earth was torn apart by careless exploitation and the atmosphere had nearly burned off in the process.

The people that had remained evolved to survive in the scar tissue-ridden place left behind. There was a long period during which all lay dormant. It was as though the world created a cocoon around itself, healing slowly from the inside. Until, one day, life reemerged, but very different than it had been before. Another few million years later and civilization had reasserted itself, adapted to a hotter climate.

The Doctor shook away his thoughts and slipped out of his bed, heading down a network of hallways until he reached the primary control room. He stalked across the grated floor, boots clanging noisily and jerking the viewing screen of the central console up so he could look more closely. He tapped into his steadfast mental connection with the TARDIS and silently requested her to display the readouts from his harmonic screwdriver—a ritual he had performed every day since they encountered the ghosts. The TARDIS complied instantly, yet not without giving him a nice mental shock.

“Ouch! Stop that or I’ll carry this outside where you’re a horse,” the Doctor chided and resumed studying the screen. He hoped she wouldn’t make it come to that. His mind was capable of far superior tasks in this room compared to the outside driver’s box. The TARDIS dimmed her lights and his screen went blurry momentarily before she relented. The Doctor sighed, knowing full well why he was being scolded. He set aside the moral dilemma of telling Rose the truth and instead focused on the screen.

The readout was clear. He just couldn’t believe it. The ghostly figures were not ghosts as he’d correctly assumed. They were tests. Test being run by the Cyberkin, a vast army of Gallifreyans from his time, who had essentially made themselves immortal by infusing their bodies and minds with technology. They had taken over much of the world, turning any biological intelligent life in their path into Cyberkin. Their minds were connected, hive-like, and they maintained the ever-so-human drive to survive. Yet, it was to such a degree that they were willing to shred apart the timeline to infiltrate the rest of the galaxy. But, before that, they ran tests. When they took over a region, they ran tests on technological adaptations to themselves that would enable them to overtake space-time portals and teleport themselves across the known galaxy all at once. An invasion of such a ludicrous, epic scale that no one thought it was possible.

But something was off about these tests, and he didn’t quite have all of the information he needed to figure out exactly what it was. He knew he couldn’t prevent these tests from happening because they’d technically already happened. But it was strange how the readouts from his screwdriver indicated that the tests were successful, yet they clearly were not. He scanned the data from each location they had visited over and over. Sure enough—each test had been successful, which meant the Cyberkin should have come through properly. But they hadn’t.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, one final set of coordinates spinning on the screen—an abandoned mine in an impossible mountain.


	9. The Impossible Mine

“Not sure what’s wrong with her. Seemed a bit queasy, like she didn’t want to land.” The Doctor said as he stepped down from the driver’s box. He gave the stagecoach a concerned look, then turned to inspect his surroundings.

“Oh, if you think there’s going to be trouble we can always go somewhere else.” Rose said in feigned weariness as she stepped out of the coach after him and looked around. It was mostly dark other than sharp shafts of light that cut through the dark cavern alcove from around wooden structures ahead. She glanced over the stacks of supply crates and rows of barrels that were leaning precariously against a chiseled cavern wall on one side. 

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow at her and his mouth twitched with the effort not to laugh.

Rose gave him a knowing smirk and then they both doubled over in laughter. Like that would even be on the menu.

“I think we’ve landed in a storage galley,” said the Doctor after his laughter tapered off into giggles. “Rather kind of them to make it large enough to fit the TARDIS.”

Rose stepped around a barrel and found a crooked gate. She gave it a shake to find it chained shut. She peered out through the bars to find that they were in an open, sheltered space at the mouth of the cave. The light from the mouth cast a dim glow over a row of empty stables and a line of rails that disappeared under an iron-barred, wooden door.

The Doctor wandered up next to her and dragged his hand along the top of a stack of crates, creating tiny trenches in the soot with his fingertips. “We’re in a lead mine and I’d say it has been abandoned for forty years. Strange. That’d imply that was abandoned during the civil war when lead was in high demand. We’re in the St. Francois Mountains of Missouri—one of the oldest mountain chains in North America. Isn’t that fascinating?”

Rose was half-listening as she tested the strength of the gate by stepping up on the bottom rung. The gate wasn’t too high; though she was thankful she’d worn her brown riding breeches instead of a skirt for this trip. The space between the top rung and the ceiling of the cavern was plenty wide for them to climb over. The Doctor had launched into a geology lecture as Rose clamored over the top and jumped down to the other side.

“Comin’?” She flashed a grin through the iron bars.

“…volcanic activity over a billion years, and, “The Doctor’s rambling tapered off as he blinked at her.

Rose pretended to lift her imaginary skirts and offered him her best formal curtsey. “Your turn.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” He said, producing his harmonic screwdriver. He aimed it at the padlock and after a quick, warbled whistle from the screwdriver, the lock clicked open. He pushed through the gate, causing the chain to fall noisily to the ground, and sniffed.

Rose just shook her head at him. “Wouldn’t want you to mess up your pretty suit climbin’ up an old gate, now would ya?”

The Doctor looked affronted. “I’ve done a lot worse in this suit, I’ll have you know.” He feigned brushing a bit of dust from his lapels and looked around. “Well, since the TARDIS couldn’t land at the exact coordinates, we’ll have to make our way down the mine. At least we won’t be alone. Though, whether that’s a good or a bad thing I’m not sure yet.”

 “Not alone?” Rose asked distractedly. She walked over to the mine car tracks and tapped the metal rail with her boot.

“Wick on that lantern has been lit in the past fortnight. I can smell the paraffin oil.” He sniffed for effect. Rose sniffed as well but smelled nothing other than the earth around them.

 “Not to mention, it’s not all dusty. The makeshift bar over there has seen a couple of patrons in the past few days. Pints poured and the like. Scuff marks and boot prints in the dirt are fresh. I reckon they found the old whiskey jugs and had a go.” The Doctor wandered the area during his assessment. “Mine tunnel door is ajar. And listen to that.” He paused and tilted his head, putting a hand to his ear. “Someone’s drilling. Wonder who is here?” The Doctor went to the large door that blocked the mine entrance and shoved it open enough for them to squeeze through. He waited as Rose grabbed the lantern and lit it with a piece of flint lying nearby. She joined him and aimed the light into the tunnel. The Doctor stepped aside and let her walk in first. The resonant grind of drilling, followed by an intermittent hiss, grew louder as they entered the primary mining tunnel.

 “Welcome to Hell,” Rose read aloud the words scrawled across the rough stone wall. Just below were several lines of angular glyphs.

“Oh, it’s not that bad. We’ll have to spend some time in the TARDIS ventilator room for a while after this trip, though. Mine dust is rather toxic.”

“No, over here,” Rose said, holding the lantern up to better illuminate the writing.

The Doctor slid his specs on his nose and leaned closer, clearly more interested in the glyphs underneath. “That’s odd. It won’t translate.”

“But, I thought the TARDIS translates everything,” said Rose.

“It does! If it doesn’t, it means this writing is old. Impossibly old,” the Doctor said, taken aback. He withdrew a field journal from his inside duster pocket and began to copy down the glyphs on the wall.

Rose watched him curiously. She could practically see his brain wrapping its way around the mystery before him. His eyebrows met in concentration and his bottom lip poked out as he worked the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth. He had left his hat in the TARDIS, leaving his gorgeous crop of wild hair on display.

Rose shook her head and scolded herself for her lapse of focus. A thought then entered her mind. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the ghosts? This writing.”

The Doctor shook his head slightly, consumed with his task.

Now she felt properly disturbed. Movement out of the corner of her eye alerted her to a figure standing just on the cusp of the dark cavern and the glow of her lantern. She gasped and nearly jumped ten feet in the air.

“We must feed,” said the figure. It then stepped into the light and Rose gasped. The figure wore dark gray trousers and a deeply smudged shirt rolled up at the sleeves, work boots and gloves. But all that was quite ordinary. What startled Rose was that he held a glowing orb in his hand that was hooked to a leather and brass helmet. The helmet was adorned with a strange apparatus strapped across the man’s mouth. An array of tubes dangled from the apparatus, and Rose couldn’t fathom why. Not that she had much knowledge on such things. If the reason was to make it look frightening, then it did its job.

“We must feed,” the being said again. A few more similarly dressed beings stepped into the light from the hallway behind him.

Rose and the Doctor exchanged a stunned glance.

The being took a step closer, his beady eyes just barely visible behind the brass-lined goggles. “We must feed.” He looked down at the glowing orb and hit it a couple of times. “You, if you are hungry.”

Rose exhaled with relief and almost laughed, but things were just getting too strange.

“Sorry?” asked the Doctor.

“We apologize. Electromagnetics have interfered with speech systems. Would you like some refreshment?” he said, his voice welcoming and polite—a stark contrast to his appearance.

“Electromagnetics?” Rose parroted, having never heard that word.

Squealing rail brakes filled the tunnel, and the Doctor gave Rose a look to indicate he’d explain later. Echoes of hissing steam had drowned out any opportunity to speak. The steam-release was followed by quick footsteps heading towards them from dark corridor beyond the masked beings. Lantern light flashed on the cavern wall from around the corner as a man emerged from the darkness. He wore similar, soot-stained clothing as the men with the peculiar helmets, except his face was only partially concealed by the shadow of a shabby, wide-brimmed hat. His mouth gaped in confusion.

“Er… Hello,” said the Doctor.

“What the hell? How did you get here?” the man said, adjusting his hat to reveal gray hair sticking out underneath and sharp, blue eyes. The masked beings parted to allow him through.

“Well, we—“the Doctor began.

The man cut him off as he pressed a button and spoke into a device on his chest. “Captain, we’ve got people up here at seventeen.”

A crackly voice responded from the device. “Jefferson, that’s impossible. The road to that entrance was destroyed in the avalanche.

“You’ll have to see for yourself,” the man called Jefferson responded. He then looked up to the Doctor and Rose. “Come with us.”

Rose watched as Jefferson turned and walked back through the row of masked beings. The Doctor followed with a smile, hands clasped behind his back. 

 “Oh, don’t mind them. They’re the Ood—after that contraption they wear on their heads. Ida’ll explain it.” Jefferson said, noting her hesitation.

She shrugged and joined them. If the Doctor wasn’t alarmed, then she wasn’t. Though she had to wonder what it would take to alarm him.

As they set off, the crackly voice spoke again. “Clear out of that corridor. There’s another earthquake about to hit in thirty seconds.”

“Quickly, move! Come with us,” said Jefferson. He dashed forward and led them through a short series of dark corridors, made relatively easy to traverse with the light from their swinging lanterns. The Ood took up the rear, the glow from their communication orbs chasing them all along the chiseled stone walls.

The tremors began as they reached a reinforced supply alcove. Rose felt the Doctor grasp her hand as they crammed into the small space. She returned his grip tightly, threading fingers through his and flashed a reassuring smile at him over her shoulder. Of course she was scared out of her mind, but she knew that to brave never meant that she shouldn’t be without fear. The Doctor pulled her against him as a particularly strong quake raked through the mine. It knocked rocks and debris loose from the cavern walls, and then the unmistakable, deafening rumble of a collapsing tunnel overwhelmed them.

Once the earthquake had passed and everyone was deemed unharmed, Jefferson led them down the remainder of the tunnel to a passenger rail cart. He contacted the captain to ensure that the tracks en route to the primary underground hub weren’t damaged in the quake, and then gestured to the cart. “All in.”

Rose climbed in first and gripped a handle by her seat, wondering idly if they should be concerned at all about the cave-in. As she settled against the hard wooden bench inside, she assessed the relative safety of the passenger cart as a whole. She’d been on trains before, but never anything quite like this. Visions of dark, narrow tunnels and bottomless pits crept into her thoughts, but she kept them at bay by reminding herself that she’s been through much worse. Also, it could be fun. An Ood sat across from her and hooked his glowing orb on the front pocket of his shirt. Rose smiled at him awkwardly and wiggled her fingers in greeting, but he didn’t respond.

The Doctor climbed in next to Rose. “This’ll be exciting! Like a roller coaster. Those have been invented already, right?” He looked up thoughtfully. “Yes, they have. Coney Island. I wonder if we’ll go over any bottomless chasms.” He grinned.

Rose looked at him as though he had a tumbleweed on top of his head. “Sounds like a right shindig.”

Jefferson climbed in last and spoke into his com. “We heard a cave-in. Sounded massive; any idea where?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Rose. Looks like they’ve reinforced the old tracks with modern steam technology. We’ll be safe,” the Doctor reassured her.

Jefferson’s voice broke into their conversation once more as he spoke again into his com. “Damn, that’s where we just left.”

“What?” The Doctor jumped up and scrambled out of the cart.

“The collapse—corridors A through J in sector Seventeen are destroyed,” said Jefferson, eyeing the Doctor wearily.

“And, and the entrance to sector Seventeen?” prompted the Doctor.

“That’d be part of corridor A,” said Jefferson.

The Doctor said nothing more as he bolted away from the passenger cart to the series of tunnels, duster tails billowing behind him. Rose followed with the lantern and eventually found him standing utterly still before a deep ravine. Pebbles fell from the edges all around as the earth settled from the quake. Rose scanned the far side of the chasm. Bright light shimmered from a small opening up ahead, glinting off of the surrounding stone.

“It can’t be,” the Doctor said to himself.

Rose stood next to him and stared down at the wide swath of darkness that separated them from the light. She glanced over to the Doctor. His chest rose and fell and she touched his arm in a subtle gesture of sympathy. His hand sought hers and she brushed her thumb over his as their fingers entwined.

During the subsequent stretch of silence between them, the drilling started up again. Rose had almost forgotten its absence in the wake of the earthquake. She shifted, anxious. “How can so much earth collapse inside of a mountain without the whole mountain caving in? It’s like someone hollowed out a pumpkin.”

“This isn’t an ordinary mountain I’m coming to realize,” said the Doctor. He turned away from the chasm, released her hand after giving it a gentle squeeze, and shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. “Better head back.”

Rose gave the chasm one last glance before joining him. They walked silently back to the mine car where Jefferson and the Ood had been waiting. They climbed back in and braced for the slow, rickety ride. The Doctor’s earlier cheeriness had been replaced by stoic calm.

“Might want to hold on,” said Jefferson as he pulled down a lever. 

Rose gripped a metal bar on the inside of the cart as it began to roll at a languid pace. Just as her mind started to wander, the cart lurched forward and took off, nearly sending her sprawling into the lap of the Ood in front of her. The Doctor caught her by the elbow and pulled her back to her seat and she exhaled with relief. The cart had apparently been fitted with steam-powered thrusters that enabled it to traverse the mining rails much more swiftly than its manual-operated predecessors.

After traveling through winding tunnels, skirting elaborate dripstones, and gliding over underwater streams, they finally arrived at the habitation hub deep within the mine. The cart rolled into an unloading bay and they climbed out one at a time.

Rose took a moment to find her bearings. The ride had been rather disorienting and now she felt a touch lightheaded.

 “All right, Rose?” asked the Doctor.

“Just a bit off,” said Rose, blinking slowly to ward off the faint dizziness.

“Oxygen is low down here,” said Jefferson as he punched in the code on a panel by the door. “You’ll feel better in the habitation chamber.”

“Just how deep are we?” The Doctor asked.

“Well below sea level,” said Jefferson as he turned a large wheel crank on the door. A loud hiss of steam indicated that the door had unlatched, and grinding gears soon followed as the door slid open. They entered the circular, sconce-lit room in single file and the door slowly sealed itself shut behind them after the last Ood had entered.

A woman with wavy light brown hair and overalls greeted them with a jovial smile. “Don’t know what you were doing up at the adit. We didn’t even know it was up there until we found that branch of tunnels. I’m Ida, by the way.”

“Hello, Ida. I’m the Doctor and this is Rose. And…oh, we’re explorers. Were, ah, exploring this mountain,” the Doctor said with a sniff. “So—what’s going on here then?”

“You don’t know?” Ida asked, incredulous.

“Nope, should we?”

“Our excavation has been a constant source of entertainment for the papers. Why else would you come snooping around?” she eyed them suspiciously. “And the adit at sector seventeen has no access to the switchback down the mountain. At least, not anymore. Just how did you get there?”

“Well,” Rose started, illustrating with her hands. “We just—“

“A coach; my coach. It can go anywhere. It’s—a special invention of mine,” the Doctor provided, gesturing along with Rose.

“Right,” Rose nodded along. It was sometimes difficult to know when the Doctor would go with a relative truth or a blatant lie in situations like this.

“But, it was up there,” said the Doctor.

“I’m sorry. The collapse took that entrance tunnel with it, the one with the bar and stables.” Ida said. “According to sensors.”

“The ground gave way. It must have fallen to where you’re drilling,” the Doctor said, looking hopeful. “Very curiously, might I add. What did you say it was like, Rose? A hollowed pumpkin?”

Rose nodded. “Yes, just like that.”

“I’m sorry, can’t divert the project,” said a man from across the room. He had dark hair styled in short dreadlocks and a utility belt fitted with various tools.  “And we’ve seen collapses like that here. Not sure how to explain it.”

“But, I need my coach. It’s all I’ve got. Literally the only thing.”

“I’m sorry—Doctor, was it?—your ship is lost. We only have resources to drill down the main shaft to the underground sea. That’s it. No diversions. No exceptions. ”

“Underground sea?” The Doctor’s entire demeanor lit up like a torch.

“Er, yes. You really don’t know.” Ida shook her head in disbelief. “Well, you’re stuck down here until we’ve finished the research. I’ll put you on the duty roster.”

The Doctor turned to Rose excitedly. “An underground sea! There’s no record of such a thing in this region. Very strange. Isn’t it?”

Rose nodded with a smile, and leaned in to whisper. “I’m more concerned over that duty roster. Can’t say I’m trained on how to operate an Archimedes’ screw.”

“Rose Tyler!” The Doctor beamed. He swept her up in a hug. “You know what it’s called and that’s a start.”

Rose lifted an eyebrow as they parted. “Is it really so surprising that I know something like that? Miners came to the saloon almost every day.”

The Doctor gave her an apologetic look as Ida chimed in.

“Oh, it’ll be the laundry for you two. Don’t worry. I suppose I should introduce you to everyone,” Ida said with a chuckle. “You’ve met Jefferson. He’s head of security. Zach is the acting captain, “she gestured to the man with the dreadlocks. “Danny over there is ethics committee.” A young man with long black hair nodded with a wave.  “Toby Zed, archaeology,” she gestured to him as he nodded and left the room. “And at last, Scooti is trainee maintenance.” She gestured to each person in turn.

“So, now that we’ve made it painfully obvious that we don’t know what’s going on, what’s going on?” Rose asked.

Zach stepped forward. “This mine was abandoned about forty years ago after a group of workers went mad. There were a few murders, and just all out bizarre things going on. It was in the papers back then; devastating blow to the local economy. Really odd that you haven’t heard of it. Anyway, eventually prospectors found other ore deposits elsewhere so this mine was left to rot. They closed up all the shafts and adits and everything.  Toby’s father was head of the crew back then and kept a field journal on what happened. Though, no one knew about it until Toby inherited his father’s estate. Found it in his attic, I think.

“The journal spoke of a great power source deep in the ground below the mountain. Powerful enough to fuel a nation; more concentrated and efficient than oil. He didn’t explain how he knew this, though. But he did mention that the deeper they dug through the earth, the more they desired to go even deeper until madness overtook some of the men. It was as though another voice spoke through them and influenced their behavior. They attacked anyone who expressed logistical concerns about how deep they were digging.

“But, the most interesting bit was the artifacts they found along the way. They were all presumably destroyed or left behind, but Toby’s father kept a record of them in his field journal. Tablets with strange writing, objects for ritual purposes. Toby, having studied Archaeology at the university, researched the writing to find that it didn’t appear to be related to any language on earth, past or present. He convinced the university to grant him a sum of money to further explore these findings. And here we are.”

The Doctor rocked back on his heels and whistled. “Beautiful! What a perfect situation we’ve found ourselves stuck in, ‘eh, Rose?” He grinned at her.

Rose always found his smile infectious, so she couldn’t help but grin back even after all that talk about possessions and murders. Her expression shifted, more serious, as she looked back to Zach. “So, you’re drilling down to figure out if it’s true?” she asked.

“It appears so.” Zach furrowed his brow and crossed his arms as he leaned back against the wall, his demeanor becoming more guarded. “See, Toby has managed to figure out a partial translation to the glyphs. So far, they indicate that the rumors were correct. But he still has a bit to go.”

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow suspiciously and tugged at his ear. Rose figured he must have also noticed Zach’s shift in mood.

“Isn’t that a good thing? The translation? I mean, how did he manage it anyhow?” Asked the Doctor.

Zach was practically glowering in the wake of such questions. “Eh… You’d think, but once you read the translation it all gets a bit hairy.”

“Oh? What does it say?”

Rose’s mind began to wander as Zach avoided the question and easily changed the subject to the new steam powered technology they’d been using for the excavation. The Doctor was positively thrilled with such a discussion and Rose hardly had a mind for it. She was more curious about the Ood. There were three in the room with them at the moment, all standing utterly still and quiet. She wandered over to one that was standing behind a small bar. He tilted his head as she approached and she could see herself reflected in the glass of his mask’s brass-rimmed goggles.

“Hello,” Rose said, smiling through her uneasiness.

“Greetings,” said the Ood. “How may I be of service to you?”

Rose blinked. “Um, no service needed. Just saying hello. I’m Rose; have a name?”

“We have no titles. We are as one. Would you care for a refreshment?” the Ood held up a glass.

“Ah, sure. Yes, thank you.” Rose shifted uneasily as the Ood prepared a glass of water and handed it to her. She thanked him and sipped her water thoughtfully.

The Ood resumed its quiet posture. Rose opened her mouth to strike up conversation with the Ood when the fellow called Danny wandered up to the bar and requested a whiskey. Rose cleared her throat as he turned toward her with his glass.

“So, what’s going on with those masks? Why are they called the Ood?” she asked.

“They’re, ah… the masks are called Occipital Obstruction Devices, or OODs. We just took to calling the people wearing ‘em the Ood over time. The mask helps dampen their susceptibility to possession, but in turn makes them act like mindless drones.” He took a sip of his whiskey.

“And why do they need to wear it?” Rose glanced over her shoulder at the Ood at the bar. “And why not just keep calling them by their names?”

“You heard what Zach said. The deeper we get, more people go mad and once they go, they never recover. They’re no longer themselves and it helped to call them something else. Sounds awful, but we all knew this could happen going in. This device was invented to prevent the madness, but unfortunately, by the time we know someone is affected it’s too late.” Danny explained.

Rose set her glass down, growing alarmed the more she learned. “This is all a bit much to take in at once. So you mean to tell me we could go berserk at any minute?”

Danny knocked back the rest of his whiskey and grimaced before continuing. “Well, not so spontaneously. When a person is first possessed by the Entity, they go through a mindless phase where they are susceptible to any command. This was documented in Toby’s father’s field journal. It's when the energies have suspended blood flow to the occipital region of the brain creating a hypnotic state. It generally lasts 24 hours before the Entity is able to access the mind and take over.”

“So now it’s an entity? Not a power source,” Rose inquired, leaning in. She glanced over at the Doctor who was talking animatedly with Zach and Ida and decided she’d have to tell him about it later. She looked back to Danny as he spoke.

“Er, yeah. Speaks through people like a ghost. Toby and Ida think it has something to do with the power source. Seems to get stronger the more iron we remove from the shaft. That alone is financing this trip, so, might be able to help find your coach eventually. Just… not sure it’ll be salvageable.” He gave her an apologetic look. “Anyway, yes. There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s something living down there that can take over our minds.”

Rose chewed on the inside of her lip and set her empty water glass down on the bar, brow knit. Danny’s mention of the word ghost reminded her of the original reason why the Doctor had taken them there in the first place. She made a mental note to ask the Doctor about it later as well.

Danny set his glass down near Rose’s and shifted uneasily amid her silence. “Anyway, lovely to meet you.”

Rose nodded at him as he walked off. While everything he said was relevant and interesting, she felt rather uneasy. The thought of something messing around in her mind made her more nervous than anything else. She wondered if the Doctor could be affected by the entity and had to amend her previous thought. A possessed Doctor would be far more frightening.

An Ood entered with a serving cart, inciting a cacophony of scooting chairs and conversation. Rose was thankful for the distraction. She watched as the workers stood in a short line to serve their plates. Her attention returned to the Doctor, who was writing something in his journal as he spoke with Ida.

“Rose, was it? Go ahead and get a bite to eat,” said the woman called Scooti as she walked past. “Just avoid the green. And the blue, come to think of it.” She smiled.

Rose nodded with a smile and joined her in line. When it was her turn, she scanned the selection of lumpy mounds of various colored puddings. “Uhm.. I’ll have a bit of that, please.”

“Would you like sauce?” asked the Ood.

“Yes,” she nodded, swallowing uneasily. “I did this job once. Served food. But it was at a schoolhouse as a cookmaid. Not suggesting you’re a maid.” She fidgeted, worried that she’d gone off the rails when the Ood didn’t reply. She changed the subject. “Do you actually get paid? Do you make money?”

The Ood tilted his head. “The Beast will rise from the depths and seek vengeance against all that dwell in the light.”

Rose nearly dropped her tray. She peered into the goggles of the mask, trying to see the eyes beyond the glass. “Pardon?”

“Apologies. I said, please enjoy your meal.” The Ood tilted his head the other way.

“I… yeah,” Rose slowly stepped away from the Ood and made her way to an empty table nearby. She glanced over at the Doctor. He was no longer smiling as he listened to Zach, whose demeanor had also shifted.

///

The Doctor looked down at his notes, which technically consisted of a series of equations and lists that had nothing to do with his conversation with Zach and Ida. They didn’t have to know that he could lend intense focus to both issues simultaneously. By his calculations, they were close to where his TARDIS had picked up the dimensional fluctuation that would solve the mystery of the ghosts’ origin. He flipped the page back to where he copied down the glyphs.

“You say Toby is nearly done with his translation?” The Doctor asked Ida. “Mind showing me where he does his work? I’d like to talk to him.”

Ida nodded. “Sure, but why don’t we sit and have a bite first. We have to carefully ration everything, so this is the first meal I’ve seen today.” She excused herself from their conversation and crossed the room to the serving cart.

“Oh, of course.” The Doctor smiled and stuffed the journal inside of his waistcoat. He slipped out of his heavy duster as he approached Rose’s table and draped it over an empty chair. Rose had already finished her food and he was impressed with her willingness to eat such nondescript lumps of mush. He suspected they added coloring to the food to make it more cheerful.

Rose smiled up to him. “Hello.”

“Hello,” he sat down and sighed contently. Everything else around them felt so suffocating. The pressure of increased gravity at such a depth; the never ending pallet of gray and brown earth; the crushing absence of his TARDIS… But, there was Rose, a star twinkling gently in the darkness. He was grateful as ever to be caught in her orbit.

“Learn anything interesting?” Rose asked, leaning in.

“Loads,” he glanced around and determined that the others were distracted enough to not pay their conversation much mind. Ida was chatting away with Danny and Scooti ducked out of the common room along with a few other workers. “Toby is almost finished with the translation of these glyphs, which I’d love to see. But—they also mentioned that the more he decodes, the stranger he behaves. Ida’s concerned that it’s getting to him, but says he’s always been rather odd.” He shrugs.

Rose chuckled a little. “I’d get a bit odd too if I were down here long enough.”

The Doctor shuddered. “Yes, I feel a bit like I’m trapped in a cellar.” He shook off the sensation and continued. “So, apparently, when there was a vast ocean in the middle of the continent there was a civilization that lived along its shores. The St. Francois Mountains, where we are now…well, underneath them. Anyway, these mountains extended above the level of the inland sea, and provided a strategic location for the most concentrated population.”

Rose’s eyes grew wide. “Wait—you mean to tell me there was an ocean in the middle of America? Just how long ago was that? There sure ain’t anything there anymore.”

Glee rushed through the Doctor at her inquiry. He loved talking about such curious things, though he usually had to be careful that he didn’t reveal more than what the archaeologists of the time had discovered. This topic, however, would never be researched beyond this particular dig. The TARDIS would’ve cataloged it if so. They had stumbled upon an event that had literally been buried by time.

“Yes! There was. The Western Interior Seaway. It split the continent in half over a hundred million years ago,” he looked up in thought. “I’d love to take you there if we get out of this mess.”

Rose reached over and placed her hand over his. He looked down at her hand and watched as her thumb brushed over his reassuringly. He slipped his fingers through hers, finding comfort in her gesture.

“The civilization was haunted by what they called the Beast. It lived in the waters and they believed it had magical abilities—could breathe fire and cast plagues, things like that. This was long before the archaeological record claims humans had evolved, which is fascinating. Well. They managed to capture it and trap it in a deep pit. How, we’re not yet sure, but Toby is quite certain that’s what they’re drilling towards.”

Rose’s eyes never left him as he explained everything, and he had to admire how she was able to take so much in stride. He had trapped her deep underground with no clear way of escape, and yet there she was, calmly holding his hand.

“Sounds like a fairytale,” said Rose. A bright smile bloomed on her face and she squeezed his hand. “But then again, my life with you has been a sort of fairytale.”

The Doctor smiled a little. “Though this bit is more of a nightmare.”

Rose’s smile faded instantly and he chided himself for souring her mood. She brought her other hand above the table and it joined the other around his hand. “Can you build another TARDIS?”

“They’re grown, not built. And with my own world gone, we’re quite stuck.”

“They said they’d give us a lift out of here once they’re finished,” Rose offered.

“And then what?” The Doctor cringed inwardly at how that came out.

Rose looked away and searched the ceiling as she spoke. “I don’t know. Take a train back to Little London. Live a life, same as everyone else.”

“I’d have to settle down. Get a ranch or something. A proper ranch with doors and things. Cattle, maybe.” He shuddered at the image that conjured. “Me, living in a house? Now, that’s terrifying.”

“You’d have to get a mortgage,” Rose teased, her smile returning.

“No.”

“Oh, yes.”

“That’s it. I’m dying down here. It’s all over.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Oh, dear. You’ll have to live like the rest of us! I don’t know, could be the same one as me. We could, I don’t know, share.” She hesitated, glancing at him. “Or not. Whatever, we’ll sort something out.”

The Doctor stared at her. Words rushed to his mouth from his brain but they were caught in his throat and his mouth went dry. She was suggesting something domestic. Intimate. Far more intimate than he’d ever considered in the centuries he’d been running away from home. “Anyway…”

Rose’s grip on his hands loosened and he swallowed. “We’ll see…”

“I promised Jackie I’d always take you home.”

“Everyone leaves home in the end.” Rose fidgeted with her sleeve.

“Not to end up stuck under miles of earth.” The Doctor watched her, concerned that he’d upset her somehow. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t want to share a home with her—he wanted to share his whole world with her. He shifted and studied the whorls in the wooden table between them. Settling down was… well it was something he hadn’t thought would be in the cards for him. Ever. Both by his own preference and because he could potentially live hundreds more years. Who would want to live hundreds of years in the same spot?

“But stuck with you, that’s not so bad.”

The Doctor looked up at her. Her eyes were big and brown and locked on his, openly conveying the depths of her sincerity. His gaze fell to her lips as she smiled faintly. He wanted to push the table between them away and kiss her until they were asked to leave, but he remained guarded. “Yeah?”

“Yes,” she said.

The Doctor began to reach for her hand, but an alarm rang out, startling everyone from their idle conversations.

_To be continued…_


	10. The Beast in the Pit

_“But stuck with you, that’s not so bad.”_

_The Doctor looked up at her. Her eyes were big and brown and locked on his, openly conveying the depths of her sincerity. His gaze fell to her lips as she smiled faintly. He wanted to push the table between them away and kiss her until they were asked to leave, but he remained guarded. “Yeah?”_

_“Yes,” she said._

_The Doctor began to reach for her hand, but an alarm rang out, startling everyone from their idle conversations._

“Someone’s turning,” said Ida as she stood abruptly, her chair scratching across the dirt ground.

 “I’m on it,” said Jefferson as he motioned for a couple of workers to follow him. They hurried out of the habitation cavern’s common room, followed by Ida and a couple of Ood. After some time had passed, Ida and Jefferson returned. They approached Zach and exchanged a weary glance.

“You go,” said Jefferson as he crossed his arms and stood back.

Ida sighed. “We’ve lost Scooti.”

“What? How?” Zach sat down in his station seat with a heavy sigh. “I’ll send Danny to get a helmet for her. Damn…”

Ida pursed her lips and shook her head. “No, I mean… we lost her. She’s dead, Zach.”

The Doctor bristled at that, recalling the fate of the previous crew of miners. He hung back, not wanting to intrude on their grief.

Zach stood, his skin taking on a grayish hue. “What happened? Was she the one who triggered the alarm?”

“We don’t quite know. I think so, but she must have lost her wits and thrown herself off of a cliff. We have a team heading down to recover her body,” Ida explained, followed by a heavy sigh.

A shadow passed over them and the Doctor looked up to see that Toby had returned and was pacing on the far side of the room near a brightly burning lamp. His fists were clenched and his mouth moved subtly as though mumbling to himself. The Doctor excused himself from the conversation about Scooti and crossed the room to approach Toby.

“Pardon me, Toby, was it?” the Doctor asked from a respectful distance. The man looked quite disturbed and he didn’t want to aggravate him further.

Toby shot him a glare, which he quickly recovered by looking away and schooling his features to remain stoic. “Yes, what?” He slowed his pacing.

“Are you all right? Did you see what happened?” asked the Doctor. He knew he was likely pushing a boundary, but nothing else could really explain this behavior. Well, almost nothing else.

“It’s buried beneath us, in the darkness, waiting.” Toby said, not making eye contact. He stopped and stood very still.

The Doctor nodded slowly and felt Rose join him at his side. She looked up at him and they exchanged a worried look before Toby continued.

“Whatever’s down there isn’t natural. I’ve been copying the glyphs from fragments as they’re unearthed. Some carved into chunks of iron. Those always say the same thing,” Toby said, turning to face them. “The ones on iron.”

“What do they say?” Rose asked.

“In darkness you shall remain,” said Toby. He stared at them blankly for a moment before he lunged and grabbed Rose by her shoulders, knocking them both to the ground.

Rose slammed hard against the earth. Her scream was cut short as Toby’s hands tightened around her throat. His eyes gleamed red and his words were thick with malice. “But he has an eye for every ounce of iron in the earth, and for every ounce removed, an eye opens.”

The Doctor grabbed Toby’s arm, pulling him as hard as he could away from Rose. “Let her go!”

Jefferson and another nearby worker hurried over and helped the Doctor pull Toby away and restrain him. He fought against them momentarily before going limp in their arms. His head lolled as he lost consciousness.

The instant that Toby was secured, the Doctor swooped down to Rose. He grasped her arms as she reached up for him and carefully helped her sit up.  “Rose, are you all right?”

Rose coughed and gasped as the air rushed back into her lungs. “I’m all right,” she wheezed.

The Doctor let her lean against him as she worked herself back to her feet. He felt overwhelmingly protective of her. Wanted to push her behind him and shield her with his own body just in case Toby attacked again. But he resisted, knowing she might resent that just a little.

Toby groaned and came around. He struggled a bit upon realizing that he was being restrained.

Jefferson jerked him to his feet. “Get up, Zed. To the stocks with you. Don’t know how you managed to hide that you were enthralled.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Toby tried to jerk has arms out of their grasp.

Rose bushed the dirt off her trousers. “Don’t hurt ‘im. He...he was possessed.”

“We know, Rose,” said the Doctor. “That’s the problem.”

“I don’t—I don’t remember,” Toby said, slouching. “I’m fine now. Let me go!”

Zach approached the group. “You attacked someone, Toby. Gonna have to at least keep you guarded at all times. Let ‘im go, Jefferson.”

“Gotta be kidding me,” said Jefferson. “He just attacked someone. Might’ve even killed Scooti.”

“That’s a blind leap, Jefferson. We have no idea what happened to Scooti. He didn’t go through the change, so we don’t have the right to treat him like an Ood,” said Zach.

Toby jerked his arm out of Jefferson’s grasp. “I feel fine, honest. Don’t know what happened, but I know ain’t possessed.”

“I’m keeping my eye on you. You just strangled this girl and spoke in tongues! You’re clearly not fine,” Jefferson threatened, leaning in to Toby with gritted teeth.

Toby just glared and sulked over to an empty table. Jefferson motioned for the two workers nearby to stand guard by him.

The Doctor turned to Rose once he felt Toby was at a good distance. She went in for a hug and he held her close, stroking her hair. He sensed something odd as he embraced her. Some tiny, threatening thread being tugged in the web of the Aether. It was woven with his timeline, and as he analyzed it further, with Rose’s as well. Closing his eyes, he rested his chin on top of her head, willing himself not to dwell too much on it right now with everything else going on.

And then the room grew much too quiet. The Doctor looked up as he flipped through his mental catalogue of all the ambient sounds and realized at once. The drill had stopped. An excited murmur broke out among those gathered.

“There we have it, folks,” said Zach, rushing towards the exit. “Heading to the drilling chamber. Have a few things to do to prepare, then we’ll be able to head down first thing in the morning.”

“What time is it, anyway?” asked Rose, still rubbing her neck.

“Quarter to midnight,” answered Ida. “It’ll take a few hours to make sure everything is safe. Best get sleep during that time.”

“Who’s going down?” asked the Doctor, rocking back on his heels.

“I’m going, definitely,” said Ida. “Was going to be me and Toby, but…”

“I’ll go!” The Doctor grinned and raised his hand.

Ida laughed. “If you don’t mind wearing a diving suit, you’re in.”

The Doctor shrugged. “I’d wear a doily if it meant I could go. No, wait… scratch that. Not a doily.”

“Suit’ll be ready early, get some rest,” Ida said, shaking her head.

///

Rose stared into the darkness of the bunk room, unable to sleep. She still felt Toby’s hands squeezing her throat and couldn’t get the Beast’s words out of her mind. The Doctor had pointed out that this was an archaeological dig and not a search for fuel, which might have assuaged any debate against drilling deeper if the threat of murder wasn’t on the table. But, they’d come so far that backing out was not an option. Rose touched her bruised neck and swallowed, feeling the muscles working under her fingertips.

She sighed and rolled to her side and saw the Doctor in his bunk across the room. She couldn’t tell if he was asleep—likely not, knowing him. The pale glow of a single gas lamp barely reached as far back into the bunk room as they were stationed, so she knew that if she were to get up, no one would likely see her. The only thing at risk was their perception of her purity, which she assumed wasn’t high on the list of concerns for these folk. And so she slid out of her bunk and crept through the darkness towards the Doctor.

The Doctor scooted over to allow her room as she approached. Just as she thought, he wasn’t asleep. She slid under the thin, tattered blanket with him and he turned on his side to face her.

“Hello, love,” the Doctor said with a whisper. He reached over and tucked a messy lock of hair behind her ear.

Rose smiled and kept her voice equally soft. “Couldn’t sleep. Figured you’d be awake. Always are.”

“I sleep. Just don’t need as much as you, superior physiology and all.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot that you’re up there on Mount Olympus,” Rose teased. She placed her hand on his chest to find that he had removed his layers of coats, vest and cravat down to just his white shirt. She could only discern the slight impression of a smile on his face in the scant light. It warmed her heart nonetheless.

“Then you’re my Persephone, trapped underground with me so far from home.” The Doctor wound an arm around her and pulled her closer. He pressed a kiss at the crown of her head. There was a sadness to his tone that belied the romantic intention of his words. “And Hades is just below our feet.”

Rose snuck a leg between his and nuzzled his chest. “Don’t worry about me, Doctor.”

He didn’t reply, just held her close and crawled his fingertips up and down her arm and over her shoulder. Rose turned her head so she could look up at the cavern ceiling; felt her eyelids drooping as his touch lulled her into a relaxed state. But just as her eyes finally closed, a shock of anxiety struck and her eyes popped open. “We’re deep under a mountain with only a few yards of earth and water separating us from a monster that once terrorized an ancient civilization that no one knows ever existed. I’ve changed my mind. Start worrying about me.”

The Doctor pulled her even closer, comforting her wordlessly by combing his fingers through her hair. Rose exhaled and slid her hand under his shirt and rubbed his back. The gentle paths of their fingers soon drifted to more intimate areas as intentions shifted from invoking security to giving pleasure. She kissed along his clavicle and up to his neck; his hand worked under her trousers and squeezed her bum. Her lips curled into a smile against his skin as she soon felt him hard and pressing against her belly.

“Better not make a sound,” said Rose, and with that challenge, the Doctor was spurred to action. He drew her bottom lip between his, released and then caught her top lip. Her tongue teased the seam and soon they were kissing hard and yet careful, taking caution to not make much noise. But apparently the Doctor quickly lost the desire to not draw attention to their bunk as he rolled her to her back. He tugged the laces of the front of her shirt and pulled it open to draw out a breast. He lapped at her nipple until it swelled into a hard bud. 

Rose gasped and arched at the suddenness of his action, her hand finding its way to the back of his head to hold him there. His hand drifted down so that he could caress her mound through her trousers. Rose bit her lip with the effort not to moan. His fingers pressed and massaged between her legs, and she wiggled her hips wantonly, needing more friction. Needing his bare hand and clever fingers. Her chest rose and fell rapidly; she’d gotten so close so fast that it made her blush.

The Doctor kissed across her chest until he reached her other nipple and worked it like the other, alternating sucks and licks that had her breath staggered and panting. Finally, his hand slid down the front of her trousers and his fingers pressed firmly over her clit, then down through her folds, gathering moisture. Around and around he dragged his slick fingers in slow, elongated circles. Rose watched him intently as he pleasured her, hoping to maintain enough control to enjoy it longer.

She grinned to herself as he slowly scooted down until his breath was over her sex. Without much pretense, his tongue joined his fingers and soon replaced them with broad strokes over her clit. Rose could just barely see the span of his shoulders and his untamed hair. She bit back another moan and decided to let go, head falling back against the bedroll. Her eyes drifted shut as his tongue drove her over the brink in a matter of seconds. The orgasm burst through her all at once and she bowed and sighed, body trembling with each additional swipe of his tongue. She had to bite her hand to keep from shouting. Once sated, Rose collapsed bonelessly and the Doctor moved back up her body. He pressed kisses on her hip bone, her belly, her breasts and up to her neck. His hand caressed the same path until he reached her face, where he brushed his knuckles gently across her cheek.

“You should sleep now,” the Doctor said against her ear.

“But, what about you?” Rose reached down to touch his straining length through his trousers and heard his shaky sigh.

“I’ll be all right.” He kissed her lips as he pulled the open shirt back over her breasts. “I want you to feel safe and at ease. There’s nothing I’d expect in return for that.”

Rose felt her heart swell to the point of bursting. _I love you_. The words danced on the tip of her tongue. _I love you so much._ But she buried her face against his chest and fell asleep to the quadruple rhythm of his heartbeat instead.

 

The following morning, Rose woke to the blaring morning call and found herself alone on the Doctor’s bunk. A brief wave of despair washed through her until she realized he must have already headed down to the drill. She spread out on the thin matt, taking up every corner with a huge stretch and yawn. The gaslight had been turned up so that she could clearly see other workers as they stirred around her. She pulled the blanked up over her chest and sat up, bleary-eyed in the harsh contrasting light.

Rose tightened the drawstring of her shirt and crept over to her bedroll where she’d left her bodice and other scant belongings. No one appeared to mind that she had awoken on the opposite side of the cavern intended for her to sleep. Sighing thankfully, she pulled on her bodice, buttoned up the front and joined the others as they filed into the main corridor that led to the drill room.

She arrived to the cacophony of steam and shouting as miners secured the lift and pulley system in the drill shaft. The Doctor was talking to Ida; both dressed to their necks in hybrid ambient-atmospheric diving suits. Large tanks were strapped to their backs and their feet were fitted with boots that had makeshift fins protruding from the toes.

Toby had joined the team there as well and was behind a desk with papers spread out before him. Two miners flanked his desk, standing guard, and Jefferson paced back and forth before him. Rose felt of her throat idly as she wandered over and peered at the papers. She saw relief drawings of glyphs amid maps and notes. Toby looked up at her as she approached.

“Hello, Rose,” he said shyly. “I’m—I’m sorry about before.”

Rose waved her hand. “Oh, don’t worry. Say, have you gotten anywhere with the translation?”

“Step away, Rose,” warned Jefferson. “If he so much as blinks suspiciously, he’s to be shot.”

Rose was taken aback. “Excuse me? I think that’s a bit extreme.”

“I think nearly strangling you to death is a bit extreme, but they’ve determined that we need him and he hasn’t lost his mind like the others so he’s to stay lucid.”

“Well, don’t forget that part then. He’s lucid. He’s still Toby,” Rose glanced at Toby, who had averted his gaze to the ground.

Jefferson just shook his head and continued pacing.

Rose crept up to the Doctor, not wanting to intrude on his discussion, but very much wanting to steal his attention before he ventured down below. He caught her eye and parted from Ida to give her a rather uncomfortable hug.

“Sorry, this suit is quite awkward and immense,” said the Doctor, smiling.

Rose ran her hand along the metal that circled the Doctor’s neck. “I want it back in one piece, you got that?” She returned his smile warmly.

 “Yes, sir,” the Doctor said as he carefully lowered the large metal and glass helmet over his head. “I’ll see you later.” His voice was now muffled within.

“Not if I see you first,” Rose smiled and bit her lip, then reached out and held his helmet as she stood on her toes to kiss the glass.

“Positions, everyone!” Ida called. “Ready the lift, secure the cables.”

Zach moved over to the controls after he ensured that Ida and the Doctor’s suits were fitted correctly. “Right, all ready, board the lift and down you’ll go. Oxygen tanks are full, atmospheric adaptations functioning. Here we go, everyone!”

The Doctor and Ida stepped into the lift and it began to lower. The Doctor waved to Rose as the lift slowly descended below the edge of the cavern floor. She smiled and waved back, yet felt her heart sink as he disappeared from sight.

///

The Doctor held Rose’s gaze until the rim of earth separated them. He felt reassured by her confidence and yet knew that although she wouldn’t show it, she’d worry.  The same was true for him. They had experienced separation before, and probably would again. But, it didn’t matter how many times it happened. He’d never find comfort in her absence. Ever since the moment he met her, she’d been a balm to his wounds and a star to guide his path.

The lift lowered them into pitch darkness and many minutes passed in silence. If not for the light on their diving suits, they would not have realized they had left the drill shaft and were being lowered through open air. The Doctor peered below the grated floor of the lift, his helmet light glinting off of the still surface of water. Just as they reached the surface, the lift stopped and a voice crackled in their ears.

“That’s it. Good luck,” said Zach through the com in their helmets.

Ida unlatched the lift door and swung it open. “Want to go first?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Ladies first.”

Ida rolled her eyes and stepped off the edge and into the water. It swallowed her whole without much of a splash and the Doctor watched her light grow smaller and smaller as she descended in a flurry of bubbles. He entered the water after her and kicked his legs to catch up. When he reaches her, he noticed that she has taken a glowing globe from her canvas pouch. The globe is bright enough to encompass them in a few feet of light, but the water is still so dark that all they can see are tiny floating particles, each other, and nothing else beyond.

“This is similar to the communication orb that the Oods use, but it has been modified so that it draws power from the water. It’ll get brighter in a moment,” Ida explained from the Doctor’s ear com. She released it so that it floated along above them, tethered to her belt.

They swam several meters until finally the glow illuminated the cavern floor. Ida was right. The orb had grown so bright that they could now see quite far in either direction. Very little life flitted about through the rocky structures around them. Blind fish and eerie crustaceans coasted at a distance, while tiny organisms floated by the glass of their helmets.

As they swam along, the Doctor noticed that the formation around them had taken on a much less organic nature. They were arranged in predictable patterns, suggesting they’d been placed there with intent. A few meters further and it couldn’t be denied that they were swimming through an ancient underwater ruin. Columns, arches and sculptures stood as sentinels to the entrance of a temple that had been carved into the rock.

“All right down there, Doctor?” Rose’s voice inquired.

The Doctor smiled to himself. He kept forgetting to ask how they managed wireless communication devices, but for now the anachronism was far more appreciated than a cause for concern. “Oh, Rose, you should see this. It’s…”

“A temple! An actual temple built with human hands. At least—I think human,” Ida said as they passed a statue that still retained its facial features.

“Definitely not human.” The Doctor shook his head, grinning at the notion that this civilization could have been yet another evolved intelligence, or perhaps originated as an alien colony on ancient earth. Just when he thought he knew all there was to Earth’s history, something new emerged. “It’s beautiful down here.”

“Look, up ahead,” said Ida, gesturing to a large, circular seal on the temple floor. It was surrounded by pedestals for beacons that had long since been squelched. They swam down to the seal and inspected the inscription on its surface.

“Talk to us, Ida, what do you see,” Zach said over the com.

“Looks like a seal. Decorative, like nothing I’ve ever seen,” said Ida.

“Maybe metal. Some sort of seal or trapdoor. Got a bad feeling it’s a trapdoor. Not a good feeling, that. Never met a trapdoor that I liked,” said the Doctor.

“The edge is covered in those symbols, and the seal itself is etched with creatures similar to those we’ve found on the ritual objects,” said Ida.

“Do you think it opens?” asked Zach over the com.

“That’s what trapdoors tend to do,” said the Doctor.

“It’s massive, Zach. Trapdoor is a pitiful term for it. Must be about thirty feet in diameter,” Ida described as she swam around its edge.

“Do you see any way of opening it safely?” asked Zach.

The Doctor reached out to touch the glyphs around the rim of the seal. “No, but perhaps this inscription would tell us what to do if only we could read it.”

///

Rose stood resolute by Zach as he worked the com device. Her hands clenched and unclenched with the need to grab the device and speak through it herself once more.

“No, but perhaps this inscription would tell us what to do. If only we could read it,” The Doctor’s voice resonated from the horn of a phonograph-like machine on the drill control console.  “Looks to be the same symbols in the same order as Toby has already discovered.”

Zach removed the bulky headpiece fitted with cogs and copper wires. “Toby, get anywhere with decoding those glyphs?”

Rose glanced over to Toby, who was bent over his desk with charcoal, scratching fervently across a fresh sheaf of paper. When he didn’t respond, Rose crossed over to him and leaned in, thinking perhaps he’d been too caught up in his task to hear. “Toby, they need to know that lettering. Does it make any sort of sense?”

“I know what it says,” Toby replied, not looking up.

Rose waited a moment for him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, she pressed, “Tell them, then.”

“Is that so, Toby? When did you work that out?” Jefferson had ceased his pacing and stood next to Rose. “When were you planning on telling us?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rose shot Jefferson a glare, then turned back to Toby. “Just tell us, Toby. We’ll let them know.”

Toby’s head jerked up, eyes red and glowing. He slammed his hands down on the desk causing his tray of charcoals to bounce and scatter. His expression twisted, shifting briefly from pain back to fury.

“Herein lies the beast that plagues the Five Realms,” Toby said.

“Yes, we knew that bit,” said Zach. He glanced over to Rose and swallowed.

Rose’s eyebrows rose at the revelation. She remembered then that they’d never really confessed to what Toby had translated so far. Before she could mention anything, Toby growled and swiped everything off of his desk. Rose backed away, hand fumbling behind her in search of the control panel.

“Stand down, Toby,” said Jefferson, drawing his rifle.

“You going to shoot him now, is that it?” said Rose.

“If necessary. He’s infected. He brought us down into this danger. You saw it yourself, or have you forgotten that he tried to kill you?”

Rose glared at him.

“To touch this seal is to awaken the beast,” Toby continued. He whipped around to face Zach and suddenly his skin was branded with countless of glyphs. “He is the heart that beats in the darkness. He is the blood that flows forever. And now his last eye opens. Now, he shall rise!”

“I said stand down!” Jefferson commanded once more, aiming his rifle at Toby.

“What is it? What’s happening? Rose! Rose, what’s going on?” Rose heard the Doctor’s voice through the horn. She scrambled around the console and put the headpiece over her head.

“The symbols, they’re all over him. He’s—“ Rose began, but was cut off as Toby screamed and grabbed Jefferson’s wrists, aiming the rifle up in the air.

“Wouldn’t want you to fire that gun in here, Commander,” said the possessed Toby.

“I order you to stand down and be confined!” Jefferson said through gritted teeth as he struggled to overcome Toby. “Or I have orders to kill!”

“How many more can you kill once you’ve gotten rid of me?” asked Toby. A manic grin spread across his face. He then opened his mouth wide and a sound like roaring wind poured out.

Rose covered her ears as the earth began to shake. Rocks broke loose from the ceiling and fell around them, clanging against lamps and metal beams. The roaring sound flew across the room to a collection of Ood who had been standing by for orders. Toby collapsed to the ground, the symbols gone from his flesh.

Jefferson aimed his rifle at Toby’s head.

“Stop! Look at him, it’s gone! Whatever was there is gone!” Rose shouted.

The Ood’s goggles lit up like gas lamps. “We are the Legion of the Beast.” They said in unison. Then all at once, the earth stopped shaking and the roaring vanished.

Jefferson hesitated and looked over at Rose, then to the Ood.

“Rose!” the Doctor shouted over the com. Rose had ducked behind the console amid the chaos. She peered over the edge to see that Zach and Jefferson, along with several other workers, were braced for attack. The Ood marched towards them with their communication orbs held aloft, static energy buzzing around them.

“It’s the Ood, Doctor. They’re all possessed. Toby’s down,” she said, struggling to keep the fear out of her voice.

“I’m coming back up,” said the Doctor.

“Doctor, look,” Ida’s voice joined his over the com. “It’s open.”

Rose’s eyes grew wide. Gunshots rang out and Rose ducked behind the control panel once more, not wanting to be hit by a ricocheting bullet. She heard the searing crackle of static, followed by a blood-curdling scream. Aftershocks raked across the cavern walls, but they were quick and soon ebbed.

Another scream. More bullets fired.

Silence.

“Secure the doors, Zach. More are coming.” Jefferson’s voice.

“Men down,” said Zach.

Rose heard the grinding of the wheel crank on the main entrance to the drilling area, followed by a resounding click. Locked in.

“Rose?” said Zach.

“All right,” she said as she slowly stood. “I’m all right. Doctor?” She swallowed as several bodies came into view over the edge of the console.

No response.

///

The Doctor stared at the floating lift. The cables must have snapped in the quake, and now their only way back up was drifting across the still surface of the water. He sighed and dove back down towards Ida.

“Doctor?” he heard Rose over the com, though there was too much static and her voice sounded farther away. “I can’t get a reply. Just nothing,” Rose continued, speaking to someone else. The Doctor noted a tremble in her tone and his hearts ached.

“I’m here, we’re fine,” he said. “Sorry. Can you hear me?”

 “Doctor! You could’ve said something sooner,” Rose admonished.

“We’re all right, both of us, but the lift is down. Seal is also open; I’m almost back there now,” he said as the black hole on the cavern floor came into view. “Rather thought it would suck us in like a drain, but it didn’t.”

“How deep is it?” Zach’s voice took over the com.

“Can’t tell. Looks like it goes on forever. All right up there? We heard gunshots,” said the Doctor. He joined Ida at the rim of the pit.

“We’re in a bit of a bind. Locked in here with Ood trying to get in. The beast or what have you has managed to bypass their helmets and taken over their minds. They’re trying to kill us all,” said Zach in a whoosh of breath. “You need to withdraw immediately. That’s an order.”

“Can’t,” said the Doctor. “Lift collapsed, we’re trapped down here.”

“Not much better up there with the Ood, is it?” said Ida. “I suggest you all get to the emergency lift and evacuate the mine.”

“With the Ood between us, that’s not going to be possible,” said Zach.

“Find a way,” said the Doctor. “And try to avoid killing anyone else.”

“They’re just Ood,” the Doctor heard Jefferson say. “I might have enough bullets.”

The Doctor wanted to scream, instead, he took a deep breath. “They are people, like you and Zach and Rose. Not lambs for the slaughter. There might be a way to save them.”

“Don’t think there is, Doctor,” said Zach. “Believe me, we’ve tried. Once the Beast gets inside their minds, they’re no longer there. They’re just… gone.”

The Doctor didn’t respond. He stared down into the well as he swam over it.

Ida watched him from the edge. “If there’s something in there it must be hiding.”

“Maybe we opened the prison but not the cell,” the Doctor suggested.

“We should go down. I’d go. What about you?”

“Oh, in a second. But that impulse. It’s so human. That strange little voice telling you, go on. Go on. There, in the back of your mind,” the Doctor spoke to the black space below him. “Can’t go back up, can we? Might as well go down.”

“Don’t you dare say that, Doctor. We’ll find a way to get you,” said Rose over the com. The Doctor swallowed. He knew the air in his tank would run out long before they could ever be rescued.

“The vents!” said Zach. “We can climb through the vents to the level above and access the lift from there. It’ll be a tight squeeze, but we can make it!”

The Doctor smiled. “Good! Go on, then. Get Rose to safety. You, too I suppose.”

Zach laughed. “Means we’re leaving the drilling area. No more communication.”

“Just get yourselves to safety,” said Ida.

“Yes sir,” said Zach over the com.

Static resounded in the Doctor’s com and another, inhuman voice joined the conversation.

“You little things that dwell in the light, that breathe the finite air and claim the surface, wasting it away like a plague.” The voice was deep and laced with rattled intakes of breath.

“This is Captain Zachary Cross Flane, representing the Torchwood University archive. You will identify yourself.”

“You know my name,” said the disembodied voice.

“It’s him,” the Doctor heard Toby say in the background. “It’s him.”

“What do you want,” Zach pressed. “Doctor, Ida—are you hearing this?”

The Doctor hated being separated from them. From Rose. “Yes,” he said.

“I am the Beast of the Many Waters. You will all die here. This will be your grave,” said the voice.

“All right, listen. Millions of years have passed since you were imprisoned. Millions. The people who put you here are long gone. The sea you called home? Gone. So tell me, which beast of the many waters are you? Hmm? Let’s see. There’s Charybdis, Hydra, Leviathan, Iku-Turso, Kraken, Tiamat…”

“I am all of them,” said the voice.

“The truth behind the myth?” said the Doctor.

“You know me well, killer of your own kind. Destroyer of Earth.”

 The Doctor didn’t respond immediately. He swam a little closer to the hole. “No wonder you’re imprisoned. Don’t sound like that polite of a dinner guest.”

“You know nothing. All of you, so small. I once commanded the oceans, and here I face a captain so afraid of command. A soldier, still bearing his rifle. Haunted by the ghost of his wife. The scientist, so desperate to prove to her father that she can do anything a man can and yet here you are, drowning where no one will ever find you. And at last, the valiant child who will die in battle so very soon.”

A long silence followed. The Doctor furrowed his brow. “Zach?”

Nothing.

“I think we’ve lost power,” said the Doctor, lightly tapping the outside of his helmet. “Do you hear me?”

“I hear you. Still have a bit of power left between us,” said Ida.

He swam around to face her. “Think there’s a way for you to get out?”

“We’ve got maybe an hour of air left in the tanks,” she said.

The Doctor admired how she took all of this in stride, yet he wouldn’t blame her at all if she broke down in tears. “I’m going down.”

“But, wait, Doctor,” Ida swam over to him. “I’m coming with.”

“You should stay here just in case. Swim up to the surface and test for oxygen. The water could lead you out, and if you can breathe above it, you’ll be fine.” The Doctor gave her a pleading look. He imagined her body floating up to the surface in the pitch dark after she’d drained the air in her tanks and he shook his head. “At least try. Please.”

“What about you?”

“Taking a risk,” said the Doctor as he swam down into the darkness of the hole. “When I’m out of range, you won’t hear me anymore. Good luck. And if you make it, when you see Rose, tell her…”

“Yes? Tell her what, Doctor?” Ida pressed.

“Oh, she knows…” he said and kicked his legs harder, swimming down and away from the light.

///

“Doctor? Ida?” Zach calls out over the com as he adjusts the levers and tests the copper wires. He soon throws down the headpiece with a heavy sigh. “We’ve lost communication.”

“That means the steam engine room is down,” said Jefferson.

“No way of knowing if anyone else was able to get out before I set the alarm,” said Zach.

Rose heard their conversation as though it came to her from another world. She folded her arms and huddled against the cavern wall, wanting to be as far away as possible from the bodies on the other side of the chamber. Zach, Jefferson, Toby and herself were the only ones alive in the mines, other than the Ood, as far as she knew.

“Also means we have about as long to climb out as it takes for the Ood to figure out they can get in,” said Jefferson, aiming his rifle at the door. The Ood were banging and kicking at the door, and before long, the ring of a pickaxe on metal was heard.

“Well, what are you waiting for? You heard them. Where’s that vent you were talking about?” Rose turned toward Zach.

“It’s up there, but it’s not really made to be climbed through,” he said. “Just was the only way I could think of to escape.”

“Well, that’s something then. What’ll we need? Rope?” Rose scanned the area to determine what they had on hand.

“Climbing spikes and rope,” Jefferson said. “Should be enough.”

“Right, good. You scrounge that up, and Zach, why don’t you find a way for us to reach it. That’s it up there, yeah?” Rose gestured to a rough-edged hole in the cavern ceiling.

“That’s it.” Zach nodded. “There’s a ladder.” He went over to the supply area.

“Toby, you all right?” asked Rose, keeping her distance.

“Yes, I’m just a bit shaken,” Toby answered as he joined Jefferson in the search for rope.

They hoisted the ladder and secured themselves with the rope, and then one by one, they climbed into the vent. Zach took the lead, lamp held overhead to light the way. The vent was narrow and the existing ladder spikes were covered in slippery soot. Rose kept scraping her knees on the rough stone walls and cringed in anticipation of hitting her head the entire way.  Just as Zach reached the lip of the vent in the cavern overhead, they heard the crash and clatter of the Ood breaking through the door.

“Keep moving,” said Jefferson. “They’re on our heels.”

They climbed out into complete darkness, save for Zach’s lamp. Rose grabbed Zach’s arms and he pulled her over the edge. She stood, sweeping the dirt from her clothes and took a quick glance around. They were in the steam room. She found it looked rather like the airship’s engine room from what she could tell. But this one was completely silent. Even the furnace fires had gone out.  Once they had all climbed out, Zach hurried over to start up the emergency rail car.

“That should do it. All in!” said Zach. “We have enough residual power to get us out of here. This will take us out to the valley. There’s a bit of a ride before we get there, so let’s hope there’s no cave-ins on the way.”

“I’m staying,” Rose said, taking a step back. “I’ll stay here and keep watch for them to come back up. Can shove something heavy over that vent to keep the Ood out, yeah?”

“Rose, they’re lost. We don’t have enough cable to send another lift down, it’s much too far. We’ve got to go.” Zach put his hands on her shoulders as he spoke.

“Ood are in the vent. Hurry!” Jefferson rushed past and climbed in the rail car after Toby. “I’ll head up first. Zach, you should take the rear. Come on, Rose.”

“I can’t just leave him.” Rose turned away from Zach and searched for a control panel. “You’ll have to go without me.”

“We need to leave. Now,” said Zach. “I’m sorry, but he’s dead. They’re both dead.”

“You don’t know him. Cause he’s not. I’m telling you, he’s not! And even if he was, how could I just leave him?” Rose fought back tears and her voice shook. She bit her lip, trying as hard as she could to hold herself together. She busied her mind with searching for a phonograph. The communications system below had looked like one. Just beyond the cusp of the lamp light was a fancy horn, and she hurried over to it only to discover that it was an actual phonograph. She felt so defeated that she just stood there and stared at it, expressionless.

“I’m sorry for this,” said Zach.

Rose didn’t have a chance to respond before she felt a blinding flash of pain and then everything went dark.

///

The Doctor swam down into the pit, deeper and deeper. His joints began to ache and he knew that was the first sign that the water pressure was getting too strong for his diving suit. He began to feel light-headed just as he noticed that the water had taken on a honeyed tone that could only mean light up ahead. He blinked, trying to determine if his mind was playing tricks on him, but, no. The light was definitely getting brighter. He swam towards it trying not to think too much about the symbolism. Brighter and brighter it grew until his hand broke through the surface. As his head emerged, a falling sensation took him by surprise and he looked down (or was it up?) to find the ground rushing to meet him. He slammed against hard earth, cracking the glass of his diving suit helmet. He braced for the inability to breathe, but found that he was able to inhale deeply. Fresh, oxygen-rich air.

Standing shakily, he unlatched the diving helmet and tossed it to the ground. He spun around and found himself in a circular alcove with an archway leading to a brightly lit tunnel. A quick glance upward had him rather puzzled—the still-rippling surface of water from which he had just emerged glinted back at him.

“That’s a first.” He grinned to himself. Yes, even after all this time there were new things to discover. He set off down the hallway, which he found to be lit by evenly spaced sconces. Murals lined the walls depicting tales of a colossal beast plaguing harbors and devouring ships. As he walked along, the story unfolded. Brave warriors luring the beast into a clever trap that would keep him imprisoned forever.

“The ever-elusive yet often feared sea monster,” the Doctor said to himself as he peered closely at the mural. He sniffed and wandered on with his hands clasped behind his back, forgetting for the moment that he was not under miles of earth.

He rounded a corner to enter an enormous cavern. His eye was drawn upward by the gleam of breathtaking stalactites that clung to the cavern ceiling. Below, a lake the color of sapphires lazily lapped the shoreline, its tiny ebb and flow driven by unexplainable forces. He strolled along the shore until he found two stone pedestals with large urns perched on top.

“Well, what do we have here. The key to unlock the cell, perhaps? This was on the mural,” the Doctor said as he approached the urns. He looked between them out across the rippling water. A low groaning bubbled up from the depths of the lake, whale-like, but stranger. The sound was followed by a massive shape slowly rising out of the water. Tentacles sprawled out from the beast and the lake began to churn like the ocean in a hurricane as it thrashed.

“Oh, there you are,” the Doctor takes a few steps back until he notices that the beast is shackled by its tentacles. “I accept that you exist, though I don’t have to accept what you claim to be. Kraken, Leviathan. Whatever your name is to whoever has encountered your kind. So, this is your prison? It’s rather cozy. I can breathe. It’s warm and beautiful. Almost as though I was expected.” He watched it  for a moment before continuing.

“All right then, why do you need me? Is there some ritual or spell involved? Although I don’t believe in those things, I’m willing to play along. Speak to me! Tell me; what should I do?” the Doctor walked around the urns. “You won’t talk. Or, you can’t talk. Oh! Wait a moment. No… Yes! No.”

The Beast struggled against its massive shackles, tentacles splashing the water but rendered useless. The Doctor almost felt pity. Almost. He began to pace once more. “You spoke before; I heard you. Intelligent, brilliant even. But all I see now is a giant octopus beast. Maybe you have arms somewhere in there, I don’t know. No matter, you’re just a body. The physical form. Where’s your mind? Hmmm? Where has it gone?” He stopped in his tracks. “No…”

Suddenly, all around him stood the all-too familiar ghostly figures. He swallowed, forced to face the threat he had been evading all this time. He turned away from the Beast to watch the figures. Briefly he wondered if the Beast was playing tricks on his mind, but he shook his head. The TARDIS brought them here for that reason initially, and now if he ever got out of this situation alive, he’d emerge long enough to be shoved back into another hazard. The Beast groaned behind him and he turned to face him once more.

“This is your prison. It’s eternal as you appear to be. It completely thwarts your brute force—you cannot escape or the mountain filled with iron will collapse on you and then you’ll cease to be. They wanted you to endure this torment forever! Your body is trapped here, oh, but your mind—your mind has found a way to escape. Your mind wants to go on living—and who could blame it?

“But now I understand your trick. The people who put you here must have had guards watching over you. If you were to ever escape, they’d have to sacrifice themselves to destroy the mountain and you in turn. And you’re using this system against me now. You know that I’ll have to destroy the mountain. I’ll have to sacrifice Rose if I want to stop you from escaping. So, that’s my test, then. If I kill you, I kill her. Except, that implies that in this grand scheme of yours, she’s just a victim. But I’ve seen a lot of this universe. I’ve seen this planet’s birth and death. I’ve seen monsters of earth and sky, some that claim to be gods—bad gods, demi-gods and would-be gods. Out of all that, out of the whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing—just one thing…”

The Doctor picked up one of the urns. It was heavy yet brittle and hollow with age. He raised it up and faced the Beast even as its tentacles are thrashing to break free of its ancient manacles.

“I believe in her!” He slammed the urn to the ground and it shatters. The Beast roared, its head crashing against the ceiling, piercing its flesh with numerous stalactites. The Doctor grabbed the other urn and threw it to the ground, and as it shatters, the earth began to shake.

The ghostly figures disappeared all at once.

The Doctor backed away from the Beast as stalactites fall. He scrambled along the cavern wall to avoid falling boulders only to trip over a crack in the earth. Pulling himself to his feet, he heard the familiar and welcoming sound of a horse’s whinny a few feet away.

///

Rose opened her eyes and squeezed them shut again. She pressed her hands against her face, fingers gripping along her scalp as she fends off a wave of pain and nausea. When the discomfort subsides, she hesitantly extended her senses. She’s disoriented by the rush of sound and air and the swaying of her body until it clicks in her mind. A mine cart in motion.

“She’s up,” she heard Zach say.

“Take me back!” Rose lurched forward only to find she’d been strapped to the seat.

“It’s too late, I’m sorry,” Zach said. “We can’t turn back. This is what the Doctor would have wanted, right?”

Rose slouched back against the seat, defeated. Toby was beside her, a wide smile plastered to his face.

“We made it! We escaped!” Toby laughed and slapped his legs. “At last!”

“Not quite yet,” said Jefferson, arching an eyebrow at his candor.

“Tracks are holding. Power current is steady and strong. It’s a smooth ride and we’re heading right out to the valley at the base of the mountain,” Toby said, laughing again.

Rose, angered by his joy, wished she could punch him. “Not all of us made it out, so try not to make such a jest about it. And you know what? It doesn’t make sense.”

“What?” asked Zach.

“We escaped, but there’s a thousand ways the Beast could have killed us. Could have collapsed all of the tracks, possessed us even. But it didn’t. It let us go. Why? Unless it wanted to escape.”

“Why don’t you do us a favor and shut up,” Toby said, glaring at her. The grin returned to his face almost immediately. “Almost there. We’ll be at the mine’s main entrance in forty seconds. Thirty-nine.”

Rose stared out at the swiftly passing flowstones and jagged, pick-hewn cavern walls. The lights along the cart flashed over reflective sediment just out of her reach. Attempts at calming herself with reminders that she’d see her mother and Mickey again did very little to calm the turmoil in her heart. The Doctor was alone and in peril, and she could do nothing to help him.

A sudden earthquake tore through the mine, jostling the cart as it careened past a rail switch.

“Shit! Track switched ahead!” Zach struggled with the controls on the cart. “I can’t stop it!”

“What? How!” Toby unhooked himself from his seat and climbed to the front of the cart. He shoved Zach aside and began turning gears and flipping levers haphazardly.

“Toby what are you doing!” Jefferson began to unhook himself from his seat, but Toby grabbed him.

“We’re heading for a drop off! Thirty seconds out!” Zach regained control of the panel before him and made feeble attempts at stopping the cart. “Brakes aren’t functioning. Toby, what have you done?”

“I am the rage,” Toby snarled, eyes red and glowing and his body covered in glyphs once more. “I am the tempest and the terror at sea!”

 Jefferson struggled against Toby and managed to kick him towards the door to the cart. Rose saw the butt of Jefferson’s rifle sticking out from his seat and grabbed it. She aimed it at the cart door.

“I shall never die! The thought of me is forever!” The possessed Toby flailed in his attempt to right himself.

“Oh yeah? Go to Hell!” Rose fired the weapon. The bullet hit the hinge of the door and it fell open just as they reached the drop off. Rose winced as the recoil had slammed her against the side of the cart, but she kept her eyes focused on what happened next.

Toby flew out of the cart, his body smashing grotesquely against the rocks as he fell into a chasm. But it was too late. The cart was still heading for the same fate as it neared the broken end of the track.

Rose braced herself for the fall, eyes squeezed shut.

 Instead, the cart began to slow down. It rolled to a complete stop, though the groaning of unstable bridge beams warned of near collapse.

“Sorry about the delay, Captain,” said a familiar voice off to the side.

Rose opened her eye. “Doctor!” she cried and threw her hands in the air, unable to contain her elation. The old blue stagecoach was suspended in midair next to the mine cart, encased in golden light. The black mare hoofed at the air and shook her mane impatiently.

“Rose Tyler,” said the Doctor with a grin. He was seated on the driver’s box, reins in hand. He tugged on them to guide the coach close enough so they only had to mind a small gap. “And you two, I suppose. All aboard! And might want to be quick about it. That track isn’t going to hold much longer.”

Rose climbed into the stagecoach first and reached out to help Zach and Jefferson. Once inside, she felt the familiar tug in her belly that indicated the TARDIS had entered the Aether.

///

After dropping off Zach and Jefferson at the nearby village, the Doctor returned the TARDIS to the Aether and joined Rose in the foyer. She sat on the grand staircase, freshly bathed and dressed in an off-shoulder, pale pink gown. A white shawl was draped around her arms and she had the fringe entwined in her fingers.

The Doctor grinned upon seeing her, and words failed him. It wasn’t so much that she was beautiful, which she was, he was simply stunned by the sheer joy of her presence. She returned his smile as she rose to her feet.

In the blink of an eye, they were in each other’s arms. The Doctor lifted her off the ground as he enveloped her. Rose laughed, legs dangling.

“I missed you,” she said and burrowed her face in his neck, breathing him in.

“Missing you doesn’t even begin to cover it,” the Doctor said, his fingers digging into the soft fabric of her dress. “I feel like I can breathe again.”

Rose hummed in agreement. He set her down, but never let her go. For the longest time, they just held each other. No kissing, no wandering hands. Just clung to one another and swayed, basking in the relief that they both desperately needed. Eventually, the Doctor began to stroke her hair and he felt her sigh against his chest.

“I saw the ghosts again while I was down below,” said the Doctor. He hated that he had to even bring it up, but there was no point in delaying the inevitable.

“Oh,” Rose said. She rested her hand on his chest, thumb brushing over the bunched fabric of his cravat.

“The TARDIS was able to capture the frequency I needed to complete the calculation. Solved the puzzle, so to speak.” He held her at arm’s length.

“What now?”

“First, I’d like to kiss you. Then, I’ll need to steel myself away for a while to study the readings.”

A soft smile touched Rose’s lips. “I like the first part.”

The Doctor beamed at her. “I thought you would. I rather like it myself.” He leaned in and kissed her, gentle and soft at first. Her lips parted to deepen the kiss and he followed suit, tongue touching hers and coaxing her to moan. He cupped her face with his hands and poured every bit of longing into the kiss that he had felt when separated from her. When they parted, he searched her face, drinking in her blush, her kiss-swollen lips and how her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

The words were right there; he loved her. He opened his mouth to say it, but licked his lips instead. Kept the words tucked away. Not wanting to make it seem as though he only meant them after moments of intense danger. The act of saying them suddenly seemed quite ridiculous to him. How could such a simple collection of words ever encompass all that he felt for her?

“I’ll be in the library whenever you’re finished. I can bring you a cup of tea,” she said, blinking away the tears in her eyes.

The Doctor nodded. “I would love that.”

They hugged once more, which was a terrible thing to do, because now he didn’t want to let her go again. He kissed her temple and nuzzled her ear. “How long are you going to stay with me?” he said, pressing another kiss on her jawline.

“Forever,” she said.

He smiled even though he knew that could never be.


	11. The Haunted Afternoon

_The forest was dark and silent. Rose padded swiftly through the snow, puffs of breath freezing in the crisp air. Ice crystals clung to her fur and she was so utterly cold. But she pressed on, desperate to find the Doctor. She had to find him. Had to warn him. A quick glance up overhead confirmed her fears—as she raced ever onwards, more stars had disappeared. She felt her heartbeat expand with every step as though it worked to consume her entire being. The further she ran, the darker it became until it was all around her and even underneath. Her paws dug into absolute nothingness, pulling momentum from sheer force of will alone. She recalled the vast, white void when she’d been captured by the creature in the telegraph wire and wasn’t sure which she preferred. The white or the black. Neither, she decided as she slowed to a stop. Another wrong turn and another dead end. She’d have to circle back and start over and she had the feeling like she had done this before more times than she cared to count. With an aching heart, Rose lifted her nose to the air and howled._

///

Rose awakened with a gasp, the echo of her howl still ringing in her ears. Above her twinkled countless stars in the wide, indigo sky. Still there, just like they had been before she fell asleep. She blinked and stretched, feeling the Doctor next to her.

“I fell asleep,” said Rose. They had stopped to camp outside in the desert to catch a meteor shower in the foreground of the Milky Way.

“Not for long. I didn’t think I was that boring,” said the Doctor, his arm cradling her closer.

Rose laughed. “No, I was just plum exhausted. Did I miss anything else?”

“Nah, you caught the main event before you fell asleep. There were a few shooting stars, but that’s it.”

“So peaceful up there,” she said.

“Not really,” said the Doctor, scratching his jaw. “It’s actually quite chaotic. Stars exploding all the time, and giant chunks of matter flinging in haphazard directions, colliding and breaking apart.”

“S’funny, then. How something could look so peaceful, yet… it’s all just perspective, I reckon.” She looked again towards the thick, banded cluster of stars that formed the Milky Way as it stretched across the entire sky. “It looks like a river of stars.”

“Mmm,” the Doctor stroked her hair. “Promised to take you to see it a long time ago, but we got a bit sidetracked.”

“A bit,” she agreed and nuzzled against his neck. “I’m glad, though. Wouldn’t change anything.” When the Doctor didn’t respond, she bit her lip. “They keep trying to tear us apart, but they never ever will.”

The Doctor sighed and kissed her forehead. “Never say never ever.”

“Nah, we’ll always be right as rain, you and me. Don’t you reckon?” Rose realized she’d gripped his coat a bit too tightly and let go, smoothing out the folds in the fabric.

“A storm’s approaching,” he murmured, reaching for her hand.

Rose waited for him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, she swallowed thickly. “I dreamt I was a wolf. It was… a sad dream.”

She felt the Doctor take a deep breath and he stirred, gently untwining from her. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, then stared off for a moment at their slowly dying camp fire. “I have to talk to you about something.”

Rose sat up instantly. “What?”

“The ghosts—I know what they are. Well, I’ve known for a while now, and I’ve deliberately kept that from you.”

“How do you… what are they?” She felt oddly detached from her body.

“They’re called Cyberkin. They’re from my, ah… from my world. I wasn’t quite sure at first, but once I knew, I continued to hide it from you. Deliberately miscalculated while navigating the TARDIS to the coordinates so that we wouldn’t encounter them,” he said in a rush.

“Why would you hide that from me?” Still calm, unnervingly calm.

“So I didn’t have to face it. I wanted to keep traveling with you. Rose, I’ve told you before that I can sense timelines. I can tell when they shift and a new strand takes over because a choice had been made that changed course.”

Rose nodded slightly, remembering.

The Doctor looked anywhere but at her before continuing. “By avoiding it, I was trying to find a way to stall the inevitable. We were headed for a fixed point—a moment in time that can’t be revised—the moment we saw those ghosts appear. Every time I tried to avoid it, we’d be separated. It was an echo back across our timelines. A warning of what’s to come.”

Rose just stared at him, still unaffected, though it was more like she was floating outside of herself. The gravity of his words hadn’t quite pulled her down yet. But she knew they would. So, he thought he was protecting her from something. Delaying the inevitable.  She tilted her head. “What’s to come?”

“I don’t quite know. Time sense is more of a feeling than a clear image of what’s coming. Rose, I’m so sorry, but… there’s more.” He tugged on his ear and looked up at the sky as though it might help him find the words. “I come from millions of years in Earth’s future, from a time when the Cyberkin reigned and were locked in a devastating battle with Daleks. Both formerly Gallifreyan—future humans. And the only way to stop their war from destroying the entire galaxy was to destroy Earth. The ghosts we saw? Those are tests run by the Cyberkin. Their goal was to overwhelm the portal system with their immense army and swarm the galaxy in a stealthy attack. They practiced on Earth first, and the ghosts were their attempts at coming through. Except they weren’t quite able to manage it. They only half emerged and each attempt weakened the link between our universe and another. They were trapped between.

But, they eventually succeed. And they geared up to attack on a much larger scale—I had to take drastic measures to stop them.” The Doctor went on to explain how Earth came to be that way in the first place. How humans now called themselves Gallifreyans after millions more years of evolution. He revealed everything about himself to her. How in the future, he had a family. Had a wife and children. But that was hundreds of years ago now, for him.

Rose’s mouth went dry and she worried a fold in her dress with her fingers. “You destroyed Earth.”

The Doctor nodded. “I had to. It was the only way.”

“And people, not cyberwhatsits and the other things, actual people. They were killed, too.”

The Doctor nodded once. “Most had already left earth, but… yes. And the other things, Daleks, you’ve encountered them before. Well, sort of. When we first met. See, the explosion was so immense that I was propelled on a time current back through time and ended up here. A few Daleks were also sent back with me. I thought since they were dead and I was in the middle of a desert… they’d just rust away to dust. I was wrong. Davros—he found them. Reverse engineered and replicated the technology to the best of his ability, with adaptations of this time.”

Rose held her arms. She felt like the breath had been squeezed out of her lungs. Should she be angry? Feel betrayed? Have compassion for everything he’s had to endure? Unsure, she rose shakily to her feet. “I… I want to go home.”

The Doctor looked down. “Right, let me—let me just clean up the fire.”

///

The Doctor sat alone in the driver’s box as he set the course for Little London. His shoulders slouched and he held the reins lifelessly. He really should have said something to her sooner. About everything. How stupid—no, how hideous was he to keep such vital information from her for so long, especially after how intimate they’d become. He gripped the reins in tight fists, a sudden rage overtaking him. After meticulously keeping up his guard for so long, he had let it down for her and yet still managed to cause harm. Took advantage of her open heart, for accepting him at face value. Relaxed in that acceptance for too long without revealing more of his past to her.

She hadn’t spoken to him since she asked to be taken home, and he couldn’t blame her, really. But he was properly terrified that this was the end. He didn’t think he could possibly hate himself more. What did it say about him that he was willing to share his body with her, but not bear his soul? There was a chance he was just being melodramatic and that Rose would understand. That she just needed time to sort through how all of this made her feel. She’d been through so much with him and promised him forever despite all of the danger and hardship. He had been a coward and an ass, so either outcome—staying or leaving—had an equal possibility. As he pulled the old blue stagecoach up to the building in which she used to live, he braced himself for an inevitable goodbye.

Rose climbed out of the stagecoach the moment it came to a stop. The Doctor kept his gaze down, but watched her in his peripheral vision as she walked around the TARDIS. He chanced a glance over her to see that her mother was outside hanging laundry, and then settled his sights upon Rose.

“I might be a while,” she said, squinting up at him through the bright afternoon sun.

The Doctor nodded. He wanted to freeze this moment, the image of her looking up at him with whiskey eyes and her full lips pursed shut. She was so beautiful, and if this was his last time he’d see her, he never wanted to forget it. Even if she looked at him with anger.

“You’re coming back?” he said after a bit of a delay.

“If you’ll still be here,” she quipped.

The Doctor cringed as he recalled the time when he had left her for several weeks without warning.  “I won’t leave unless you tell me to go.” He swallowed, not caring how desperate he sounded. “I may pop into the saloon.”

Rose nodded once and turned to walk away. The Doctor watched her go, watched her red skirt dance around her ankles and her braid swing with every swift step. He sighed once she was out of sight and for the first time in as long as he could remember, he needed a drink.

 

He arrived at the rebuilt Henrik’s Saloon, noting the layout hadn’t changed much though several tables and a large portion of the bar had been refurbished. The same pianist tapped a jaunty melody on the ivory keys, a familiar tune. He’d apparently arrived during an afternoon lull, and so there were only two other patrons than himself. Neither looked up from their glasses, which was rather a relief. Mickey was behind the bar sorting out the spirits that were nearly empty and replacing them with new ones when the Doctor approached.

“’Lo, Mickey.” The Doctor sat down at a stool and tried not to imagine Rose in all of her performance finery, sauntering up and perching next to him with a brilliant smile.

“Howdy, boss!” said Mickey as he turned towards the Doctor’s voice. “Good to see you in town. Rose about?”

“She’s visiting her mother,” the Doctor said.

Mickey pulled a face. “What’s the matter, don’t want a run-in with the in-laws?”

The Doctor smirked a bit. “Something like that. Could I bother you for a drink?”

“What’ll you have?” Mickey asked as he turned to prepare a mug.

“Whatever. Something strong.” He sighed.

Mickey poured him a glass of homemade whiskey (the Doctor could tell by the bits of tobacco floating in the glass) and set it down in front of him. “All right, what happened?”

The Doctor picked up the glass and downed it in one gulp. After a series of scrunched and squinted expressions that were inspired by equal parts disgust and pain, the Doctor shook his head and pushed the glass away. “I’m a moron.”

“That didn’t just happen, though,” Mickey said as he put the Doctor’s used glass in the rinsing basin behind the bar.

The Doctor snorted. “True. Weeeelll, in the interest of keeping my nose intact, I probably shouldn’t go into too much detail. I’ve hurt Rose, to put it plainly.”

“Ah.” Mickey leaned against the bar, his arms forming a triangle with its surface. “Welcome to the club.”

“She might not want to travel with me anymore.” The Doctor took off his hat and set it on the bar top. He groaned and ruffled his hair with his hands, creating a right mess of it.

“I understand not wanting to talk about it, but you look like hell. I can go ahead and punch you in the face anyway and maybe it’ll save you the trouble of doing it to yourself.” Mickey shook his head and picked up a rag to clean off the bar as he spoke. “Rose is an incredible woman, she might surprise you.”

The Doctor slouched further on the stool and curled over the bar with his head in the hook of his arms. “She’s everything to me.” His voice was muffled by his coat sleeve.

Mickey must have decided it was best to leave him alone for a bit, because all that he could hear after that was the whiney of a horse and a few incoherent voices outside. The Doctor was mildly thankful, because every time he opened his mouth he sounded more and more pathetic. After several minutes, he finally lifted his head and smoothed out his hair.

“Feel any better?” Mickey asked. He’d gone to the far end of the bar to organize freshly washed glasses.

The Doctor shrugged as he set his hat on his head. “Thanks for the drink, Mick.” He put a few coins on the counter and stood. “I don’t know if you’ll see me again.”

“So long, boss…” Mickey said, rolling his eyes and not being too discreet about it.

The Doctor ambled outside and adjusted the brim of his hat better shield his eyes from the harsh sunlight. The few minutes it took to walk back to his TARDIS gave him a bit of time to compose himself. He’d mentally performed the entire first act of _MacBeth_ before finally reaching the block where Rose and Jackie lived.

There, standing before the TARDIS, was Rose Tyler. She was looking in his direction, peering at him from under the hood of a cape that matched her red dress. The Doctor swallowed and drew closer, clasping his hands behind his back to keep them from trembling.

Rose lifted her chin. “I meant it when I said forever.”

The Doctor felt his hearts flip in his chest. He nodded, unable to keep himself from sighing with relief. He was about to open his mouth when she cut him off.

“But there’s just one thing you need to do for me in return,” Rose said, taking a step closer. “You need to trust me.”

“I do, Rose. More than anyone in my life,” the Doctor said. He was willing to get down on his knees and grovel to her if he had to. “I realized just how much I trust you in the pit with the beast. I knew it was wrong to keep it all from you any longer. I’m so sorry, Rose. Please—“

“Doctor,” Rose began as she looked down. She took a deep breath and looked back up at him. “Then you shouldn’t withhold things from me, even if you think it’ll protect me. I’m going to get hurt and you have to trust that I can handle it! For a time I thought you did, but then this…”

“Rose…”

“I realized how much you mean to me back in the caves also, Doctor. I was ready to die with you! Despite remembering how you disappeared without a word for three weeks. Despite finding out you had left others behind permanently and fearing that could be my future. Despite you going on a romp with a French courtesan and leaving me, and Mickey, mind you, stranded on an airship in who knows where! And now you tell me you’ve been lying to me all this time about the damn ghosts?

"You tried to distract me by taking me to other places instead of focusing on what was really going on. People could've died, Doctor! And if there's anything I've learned from my travels with you, is that if we can help, we will! Even if we risk our lives. Don’t you remember the prairie fire?”

“Yes, Rose.” The Doctor sighed.

“And yeah, you hid your past from me on top of it all. And you know what, Doctor? I understand why. That had to have been the hardest choice anyone has ever had to make. You wouldn’t make a choice like that lightly. Anyone who would is callous, and you’re not. You care. Which is why I find it so upsetting that you would risk other people’s lives just to avoid something that could put me in danger. As you can see,” she gestured vaguely around them. “Threats follow us wherever we go. What if you lost me to the reapers? The telegraph wire? The beast in the pit?”

“I told you. A storm’s approaching, I can feel it. I can sense it in the timelines and in the Aether every time we travel. I knew I wouldn’t lose you any of those times, because…” the Doctor cut himself off and covered his face with his hand. The sunlight was too bright and his emotions were too volatile.

“Because, what? You know, before I met you, I was just so aimless and bored. I had a job, which is more than many can say—yet I didn’t truly appreciate it before. You helped me see beyond myself and consider a bigger picture. How my actions, although they seem small to me, have a huge impact on others. On the whole world, even! If this storm is some cryptic way of saying you sense I’m in imminent danger, then just out and say it. Trust me! Trust that I can handle it. I see the bigger picture now. And I still choose to be with you. I still choose to help!”

The Doctor’s mouth opened and shut helplessly and his hand dropped to his side. After standing in awe of her for a few moments, he sniffed and straightened his posture. “All right. Yes. I know I’m going to lose you and it terrifies me. I’ve opened myself up to you in a way I haven’t done before, and I need you, Rose. It scares me sometimes when I find myself wondering how I’ve made it nine hundred years without you.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Doctor.”

He smirked. “It’s true! I’ve traveled with some incredible people, Rose. And you… Well, you helped me out of the darkest time of my life. And not because you knew. That’s the thing. You were just.. Rose, and it turns out you were exactly who I needed.”

Rose smiled a little. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were a bit sweet on me.”

The Doctor smiled back. She was teasing him, which had to be a good sign. “Maybe just a bit.” He winked.

“I reckon I’m just a bit sweet on you, too.”

“Even after everything?” The Doctor hid his desperation to hear her answer behind a coy smile.

Rose looked at him, all pretense gone from her demeanor. “Yes.”

“So, you’ll travel with me? To check up on these ghosts-that-aren’t-really-ghosts?”

“Yes, Doctor,” she stepped closer and took his hand.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind them broke the Doctor out of his reverie.  He turned slightly to see Mickey standing there with a shit-eating grin.

“Can I travel with you, too?” Mickey batted his eyelashes mockingly.

“Mickey! I didn’t even see you come up,” Rose said.

The Doctor loved her little blush of embarrassment, but he couldn’t help but feel awkward. He wanted to say no. He wanted Rose all to himself, of course, but after their recent conversation, he felt it best to let Rose decide. He tilted his head and looked at her. “Up to you, miss Tyler.”

Rose looked from Mickey to the Doctor and back. “Come on, this might be a tough one and we could use all the help we can get.”

The Doctor smiled; because of course she was right.

 

They climbed aboard the stagecoach and traveled to the coordinates that the Doctor had triangulated. After traveling for a few minutes, TARDIS scanners picked up turbulence beyond the coordinates, so the Doctor thought it best to exit the Aether a few miles ahead of the location. They emerged on a dirt road in a vast canvass of golden wheat that flowed in all directions, save for a copse of trees in the distance. The Doctor guided the TARDIS towards the trees, noting that the exact coordinates were within them. As he drew closer, what had appeared at a distance as a small bundle of trees, turned out to be part of a vast forest just beyond. The road veered off towards the trees and alongside them, so he followed suit. The road eventually broke through the small copse of trees and led him along the forest edge until he reached a patch of land that had been cleared for a millhouse and a small lake. He passed a sign that announced, _Welcome to Canary Mill_ , and then another that barred the road, warning trespassers to keep out.

The Doctor shrugged and pulled the TARDIS around the iron barricade and continued to the millhouse. As he grew closer, a team of men swarmed out, wearing black from hat to boot. Their faces were obscured by black kerchiefs and they had pistols aimed and ready to fire.

“Oh, hello,” said the Doctor as he coaxed the horse to come to a stop. He lifted his hands in surrender. They were much too unified to be bandits. Then he noticed a symbol stitched in their shirts.

“Doctor, what is it?” Rose’s whispered voice caught his attention from behind. She was peering out of a tiny crack in the door.

“Stay inside,” the Doctor whispered at the corner of his mouth. “You’re not here.”

A woman in a white lab coat rushed out from the millhouse excitedly. She was primly dressed in a black button-up dress beneath the white coat, and had copper-blonde hair that swept out neatly from beneath the leather and brass goggles perched atop her head. The gunmen parted for her as she hurried towards the Doctor, clapping.

“Oh, this is marvelous!” she said, grinning madly. “Here, here!” The men around her gradually holstered their weapons and clapped as well.

The Doctor lowered his hands. “Er… yes, nice to meet you, too. I’m the Doctor.”

“Indeed you are!” The woman clapped harder, and the gunmen followed suit.

“You’ve heard of me,” the Doctor said as he stepped down from the driver’s box. He preened a little at the lavish reception, but quickly resumed a healthy level of skepticism.

“Of course! We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.” She stared at him momentarily as she slowly stopped clapping, and then shook her head in disbelief. “The Doctor and the TARDIS.”

“Ah, who are you?” The Doctor wasn’t one to question whenever someone found him remarkable, because he was rather remarkable, but in this case he found it best to be cautious.

“There’s plenty of time for that, Doctor. Now, according to our records, you aren’t one to travel alone. May we meet your companion?” The Woman straightened the goggles on her head and blinked at him quizzically.

“Sorry, alone this time. Just me,” the Doctor said with a shrug.

“Well then! Come along, I must show you around. You know, it was only a matter of time before you found us. Welcome to Torchwood Research Institute, an off-campus branch of Torchwood University. I’m Yvonne Hartman, research administrator. Please, come along.” Yvonne motioned for him to follow. She gestured to the gunmen as they passed, and they moved to confiscate the TARDIS.

“Um, where are you going with that?” The Doctor paused as he saw the men leading the stagecoach away carefully.

“Oh, did I not mention? If it’s anachronistic, it’s ours! How delightful,” Yvonne grinned.

“You’ll never open it.” The Doctor said as he glanced over to the stagecoach to see Rose peering out through a tiny crack. He nodded to her, knowing that she was in the safest place imaginable. A sigh escaped him as she closed the door completely.

Yvonne laughed melodiously and waved her hand. “You are as funny as they say. Come along now.”

The Doctor followed her, uncertainty solidifying in his chest and setting him on edge. He kept the stagecoach in his periphery as it was guided into the millhouse, and lost sight of it as Yvonne led him around the outside of the old, wooden building.

They walked a ways along a narrow footpath through high, unkempt vegetation until they reached sight of another building just off the edge of the lake. The Doctor took in his surroundings, constructing a story in his mind from the clues around him. The building was made of stacked stone and was mostly featureless, save for a row of windows on the top and bottom floors. It was most likely built within the past ten years, while the millhouse predated it by at least sixty. The grounds were overgrown with high grasses, wildflowers and errant wheat.

Yvonne rambled on as they walked, something about Torchwood being established long ago when the Doctor and Rose saved Queen Victoria from a werewolf. The Doctor knew that event had occurred nearly contemporary to when they were at the moment, so they must have figured out that the Doctor was a time traveler. Long ago and now could happen simultaneously for him, after all. He just had to be careful not to run into himself.

“Rose! That was her name. Your companion—so she is not with you?” Yvonne asked as they reached the door to the building.

“No, she… she’s with her mother. Visiting,” the Doctor said. Yvonne nodded and made a noise possibly to indicate she believed him. Or not. He wasn’t sure, she was rather odd. Attractive, but odd.

They entered the building and Yvonne led him through a series of rooms, to a large laboratory. Several scientists were working on various projects around them. Yvonne gestured in the general direction of the other side of the room.

“We have something that we hoped you might be able to help us figure out.” Yvonne said finally as she picked up a clip board and tapped it with a style of ink pen that the Doctor was sure hadn’t been invented yet.

“I’m listening,” he said.

“Beyond this wall is a room in which we’re keeping an unidentified object that all of our tests have concluded doesn’t exist.

“Doesn’t exist, hmm?” the Doctor mused, tugging at his ear.

“Precisely. Every single test has undeniably confirmed that it isn’t there. Yet, we see it, so… make of that what you will.”

“Could I, ah, see it for myself, then?”

Yvonne tapped her clipboard in a rhythm the Doctor wasn’t sure could’ve been a form of Morse code. “Yes! Come along. I’m so glad you asked.”

She led him through a door on the opposite side of the room and they entered a long, narrow room with a vaulted, glass panel ceiling. On the far side of the room hovering above a dais and set against a white wall was a dark sphere. The Doctor felt giddy at the sight of it, thrill of discovery washing over him.

By the room’s entrance, there was an area sectioned off for more intensive research procedures. Several people in lab coats were stationed at tables cluttered with beakers, burners, glass tubes, scales and large, open tomes. Oddly, bundles of herbs also lied about, some being grinded in mortar and pestle by assistants. And yet mixed in with the tools of alchemy were stainless steel instruments and machines only found in the distant future. That wasn’t the most alarming thing he noticed, however. Scattered about the room were bits and pieces of Dalek armor, some of which were being inspected by researchers with large, black rubber gloves and gas masks.

The Doctor bristled, no longer affecting an ounce of humor as he left the research side of the room and reached the sphere with Yvonne. He slid on his spectacles and peered closely. “Interesting.”

“Mmm, yes! We thought so, too. When we pull the levers there to test the orb,” she gestured to two large levers on either side of the narrow room. “A phenomenon occurs—ghostly figures appear in the area surrounding the orb. We suspect this is some convergence of time and space—possibly even with another dimension. But—we can’t be sure. The energy released as the ghostly figures appear is astounding! Have you seen anything like this orb, Doctor?”

The Doctor exhaled through his nose and kept a wary eye trained on the orb. “It feels weird.”

“Indeed. It makes everyone uncomfortable!” Yvonne chirped as she waved a nearby researcher over.

“I’m Rajesh,” the man said, holding out his hand.

The Doctor shook his hand. “Ello, Rajesh. So--?”

“You’ve noticed it makes you uncomfortable, yes? That’s because it doesn’t appear to exist at all. We’ve tested it using every device and method to our knowledge from a wide variety of time periods and it’s simply… nothing.”

“It’s a void ship,” the Doctor said matter-of-factly.

“And what is that?” Yvonne stared at the orb in wonder.

“It is a vessel made to travel between universes.  It is able to push past the Aether of one universe and enter the space between—which, in fact, is nothingness. This is very, very distant future technology that was stolen by my contemporary adversaries, the Daleks. You could sit in this ship and be unaffected by anything. The sun could expand and consume Earth and you’d never know.”

Yvonne laughed. “Oh dear. So, you’re from the far future, according to our records. As are the Daleks. The Daleks stole technology from even farther into the future and brought it back to use against…whom?”

“The Cyberkin. The ghosts; those are Cyberkin soldiers on standby as their leaders test the galaxy-wide teleportation system in the distant future. But—“The Doctor hopped down from the dais and strolled around with confidence. “I have no idea what the void ship has to do with it. Other than the Daleks and Cyberkin were at war.”

Rajesh blinked at him, mystified. “We’re testing the orb as the, uh, Cyberkin are testing the teleports?”

The Doctor nodded absently to Rajesh and stopped before the orb once more and snapped his fingers. “Oh, yes!” He withdrew his harmonic screwdriver and aimed it at the orb, then peered at the results. “Hmm. It’s both not here, and in all realities at the same time. That would mean your tests likely pulled it through as well. Seems to be a weak spot in the Aether thanks to all of this meddling. Tsk.”

“Something must be inside if it’s a ship!” Yvonne declared. “Open it and let’s have a look, Doctor.”

“Er, well. I don’t know how to open it,” he said with a shrug.

Yvonne frowned. “Pity. Well, good thing we’ve called on the help of an expert in Dalek technology! He should be here shortly as a matter of fact. There’s a storm approaching just as he predicted. Said he’d be here for it!”

“…What?” The Doctor knew of only one other person who could possibly know anything about Daleks.

 


	12. The Day I Died

Rose remained by the door and waited for several minutes before peering out again. “We’re in some sort of storage area.”

“All clear?” Mickey said nearby.

“Seems so. It’s dark. Lots of other things lying around,” Rose whispered. She reached for her hooded cape, but decided not to bring it along. It was flappy and red and would bring too much attention in her direction. She lifted her skirt to her knees and hooked the gathered material to brass clasps that dangled from her wide, leather belt. Buckled brown boots rose up to her knees to offset any immodesty implied by her hiked skirts, not that modesty was a concern to her right now. Running and sneaking were, however, and she had a feeling she might have to do quite a bit of both. “Let’s go.”

They climbed down from the TARDIS and crept to a stack of crates marked with a T-shaped honeycomb. The area was dark, save for slashes of light streaming through narrow cracks in the old roof. If Rose hadn’t seen this structure from the outside, she’d have never known it was a mill house. Whoever these people were, they were using it instead as a form of cargo storage area. Crates, sophisticated metal carriages and giant weapons were organized in sections in the large space. Off to the side and leading out was an area for stables, but they were all empty. The building seemed a lot larger on the inside than it had appeared on the outside, but perhaps that was just an illusion caused by hurried observation. She peered around the crates and motioned for Mickey to follow.

The back exit near the stables would most likely be guarded on the outside, as would the front entrance. Rose looked around and saw no other way out. “We’ll have to create a distraction.”

Mickey nodded. “Right. Like what?”

Rose swept the area for ideas and picked up a rock. “You’ll know when to run for it. Back door.” She threw the rock at a small box that was precariously balanced on top of a shelf. The box fell against a stack of metal rods. One rod became dislodged and slid out, tripping the others so they all fell with a clatter. One rod hit against a stack of crates, sending them tumbling to the ground.

Guards rushed in towards the sound, and Rose sighed with relief that they weren’t noticed. Once they had passed by, Rose rushed towards the back entrance with Mickey on her heels. They kept running as they reached the wide span of high vegetation that stretched between the mill house and a plain, roughhewn stone building in the distance. 

“Tresspassers!” A grating, monotone voice called out somewhere to Rose’s right.

Rose spun towards the sound and there, hovering a few feet off the ground, was a Dalek. She looked in all directions for an escape, only to find that the Dalek had alerted several others to their location.

“Rose,” Mickey said with his back to hers as they were soon surrounded. “Something tells me my revolver won’t do much against ‘em. Any bright ideas?”

“You are surrounded. Do not attempt to flee or you will be exterminated,” the Dalek before them announced.

Rose felt her heart pounding in her ears. When the saloon was attacked long ago, she didn’t get a good look at the attackers. The Dalek hovered closer and she saw that it had a long stalk protruding from the front of its head, the end of which was fitted with a singular blue lens framed in copper and brass. Its body was shaped like a pepper-shaker or a cheese grater, which would have been amusing if she weren’t scared out of her mind. It was polished bronze with vertical rows of leather straps holding rounded nodules against its metal body. Jutting out like eerie arms were two clockwork weapons that appeared to be a cobbled rifle, and a –well she had no idea what the other thing was.

“Davros is approaching,” said a Dalek to her back.

“You all right, Rose?” Mickey asked over his shoulder.

“Yeah, no ideas though,” Rose responded. “The Doctor—“

“Silence,” said a Dalek to her right. “You will speak no further or you will be exterminated.”

Rose kept her hands up, her mind reeling with dead-end ideas of how to escape. She reminded herself to keep slow, even breaths. Not knowing where the Doctor was, or if he was in danger himself, contributed to a steady sense of panic when normally she’d feel at least some measure of safety.

“Did I hear you say, ‘the Doctor?’” A distantly familiar voice inquired. She whipped her head in the direction of the voice.

Davros, sitting high and daunting on a steel gray horse. Rose glared and kept her mouth pursed shut.

“I think I did,” he said, a sickening smile growing on his leathery, gray face. “Your attempt at brave silence for his sake is a sad little thing.”

“I don’t know where he is,” Rose said, hating being mocked.

“Oh, don’t worry none. I’ll find him. Let’s see,” he tilted his head up, the hollow pits where his eyes should be aimed towards the stone building in the distance.

“What are you doing here?” Rose wanted to keep him distracted. She hoped that if she could hold him off, the Doctor would be able to do… something.

“I was invited, my dear,” he said. “Although, I had to ensure that I held all of the cards. This Torchwood, as they call themselves, is a sneaky, rotten bunch.”

“And you aren’t?” Mickey jabbed.

Davros hissed with laughter. “Not everything that’s evil is hideous. Take your precious Doctor. Why, he’s as evil as they come!”

“Shut up,” said Rose. “You don’t know him.”

“Oh, but I do,” he said, a menacing tone replacing his former mirth. “Destroyer of worlds, killer of his own kind… There’s a lot I have discovered in the metal minds of the predecessors of my minions.”

“Well, don’t let a couple of useless humans stop you from whatever it is you’re here to do,” said Rose. This tête-à-tête in a field of overgrown grass was getting them nowhere.

Davros smiled at her, his teeth fallow and broken. “What a brilliant idea.” He dismounted and strolled past them, spurs ringing with every step. He lifted a gloved hand and motioned to the surrounding Daleks. “Bring them along. We have an appointment to keep. The storm isn’t far off and timing is of the essence.”

The Daleks moved to Rose and Mickey and guided them like sheep behind Davros. Rose looked off to the dark clouds gathering in the southwest. A steady breeze had begun to stir the grass and rustle her hair. She swallowed, recalling the Doctor’s warning about an approaching storm and for the first time since she met him, she feared she might actually die.

They were escorted to the stone building, where the black-clad gunmen on guard outside were promptly shot and killed by the Dalek minions. Rose flinched at the sudden violence, which made Davros chuckle. He shoved her through the door and she felt something cold and hard pressing between her shoulder blades. The Doctor had to be wherever they were heading. He’d know what to do, so all she had to do was survive until then. She quietly surrendered and allowed Davros to coax her down the halls and to a long, cavernous room.

“Doctor! There you are,” Davros announced as they strolled across the empty space towards the sphere on the far end of the room.

The Doctor stood before the orb, flanked by the woman that had greeted them when they first arrived, and another scientist. Rose and the Doctor’s eyes met briefly and her heart swelled with relief, but he kept his expression stoic.

“Ah! There’s our expert now,” said the woman, moving towards Davros. “The Doctor agrees with you—this is Dalek in origin.”

Davros nodded. “He would agree, wouldn’t he?”

The Woman tilted her head and shrugged. “Either way, you’ll help us then?”

“No, Miss Yvonne Hartman, was it? Because you’re going to help me,” Davros said as he swept his arm around Rose. He hooked his forearm under her chin and crushed her against his chest, his gun now pressed to her head. “Or this one will have her brain blown to bits all over your pretty floor.”

“Leave her alone,” the Doctor said. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, but she has something to do with you,” Davros said, cocking the trigger.

Rose closed her eyes.

“Sir, I do believe you’re outnumbered here,” said Yvonne, snapping her fingers. At her gesture, the entire room was quickly overtaken by Torchwood guards with guns drawn and aimed at Davros. “So let’s just put down the gun.”

Davros laughed. “I do think you’re mistaken.” He made a gesture towards the nearby Daleks, and they emitted a signal in response.

Suddenly the left and right walls were blown open. Rose gasped at the sound of the explosion as large chunks of rock tumbled down on the guards. The glass paneled ceiling broke apart, raining shards throughout the room. Rose cried out as bits of glass nicked her skin. Dozens more of his cobbled, clockwork Daleks could be seen outside through the holes the explosion had left behind. They hovered in organized rows, awaiting further command.

“As I was saying… I require the orb,” said Davros. “Now!”

“You have no idea what it’s capable of! You think because you’ve done a bit of experimenting on a few dead Daleks that you understand the nature of this orb?” The Doctor brushed glass off of his duster and out of his hair as he stepped towards them. “This is a vessel of war.”

Rose caught her bottom lip in her teeth as she felt Davros press the gun harder against her head. She glanced around at the carnage. Bodies of guards lay still on either side of the room. Researchers and assistants were on the floor with their hands over their heads. Mickey stood next to her, the Dalek’s rifle still pressed against his back. His hands were behind his head and his eyes were closed as he took deep, shaky breaths.

“Spare me the heroic monologue, Doctor, “said Davros. “Though, your words do entice me.”

“Y-you might want to h-hold off on the explosions,” said the scientist next to Yvonne. He held up his hands in surrender. “There’s enough, ah, e-energy to destroy half of the continent.”

“Exactly what I hoped,” said Davros. He removed the barrel of his gun from Rose’s head and aimed it at the man. “Thank you for your input.”

He pulled the trigger. A blossom of red grew on the man’s white lab coat and he dropped to the floor. Rose flinched from the sound of the gunshot, and Davros quickly put the gun back to her head.

“He did nothing!” said the Doctor, and Rose could see the fury brimming in his eyes. “Nothing at all!”

“Well, I believe that’s subjective. His stammering was rather irritating,” said Davros as he strolled up to the orb, dragging Rose along with him. “I take it you are in command, madam?”

Yvonne rolls back her shoulders. “I am.”

“Command your guards to activate the levers. The storm is here.” Davros smiled. Yvonne hesitated and he lunged at her, pointing his gun in her face. “DO IT!”

Yvonne looked at the Doctor, who nodded gravely in consent. She sighed, resigned, and commanded the scientists in the back of the room to pull the levers. As they set to their task, Davros shoved Rose aside and grasped the orb, his arms going rigid.

Rose fell to the ground and the Doctor was there in an instant to lift her to her feet. Gusts of wind began to blow through the gaping, jagged holes in the walls of the building and leaves fluttered in on the strong currents. Rose glanced up to see the sky had been consumed by heavy clouds. Thunder pealed across the grounds, shaking the building and rattling loose more debris.

Once the levers were pushed into place, static sparked from the orb and bounced from Davros to his Dalek minions. The ghostly figures also appeared, and this time they were able to emerge properly. They marched forward the moment they recognized they were no longer held in transport stasis.

The Doctor pulled Rose away from the orb to the far side of the room, grabbing Mickey by the elbow along the way as the Dalek who had been holding him hostage was rendered motionless in the static glow. More and more Cyberkin emerged from the rift that had been opened in the process. They attacked the Daleks on site, their arms extended to release beams of light that cut melted metal gashes in their hulls.

Lightning flashed, blinding Rose as she clutched the Doctor’s coat. A deafening crack of thunder followed on its heels. Yvonne and several guards and researchers followed the Doctor and headed for the exit on the far end of the room. But just as they neared the doorframe, a finger of lightning struck the orb and coursed through Davros, causing his entire body to spasm. He screamed in agony, unable to release the orb from the force of the energy coursing through it. The conduit he had created between his body and his Dalek minions was instantly overtaken by the powerful volt of electricity. Each Dalek rattled and broke apart; their sizzling, charred husks joining the shattered rock and glass littering the area.

Davros was flung away from the orb as the jolt that held him in place dissipated. His lifeless body hit the hard ground several feet away from the dais, limbs resting at odd angles. The orb opened up soon after, and a man-sized, metal object floated out and hovered in midair.

Amid all of the commotion and confusion, Rose noticed something in the sky off in the distance. A funnel of clouds and debris churned in their direction, eating up a large swath of wheat as it drew near.

“Doctor!” Rose shouted, pointing out to the sky. Rain began to fall upon them, drops hitting sideways as they are blown by the incoming winds.

///

The Doctor had seen the tornado in the distance moments ago. He found it almost comical how many terrors could strike in one location all at once. It was only a small relief that Davros and his makeshift Daleks had been destroyed by the lightning strike. Now they were surrounded by Cyberkin, whose weapons were far superior to anything Torchwood could scrounge from what he’d seen in their current collection.  And more were coming.

“Throw the switches, hurry!” the Doctor ordered above the wind and sizzle of energized atmosphere. Two Torchwood guards followed her command and pulled the levers back, shutting the rift. 

The vessel that had emerged from the Void Ship orb rose up higher in the sky and began to spin as a panel slid open on its side. Hundreds upon hundreds of Daleks flew out of the opening, filling the sky like giant, swarming locusts. The Daleks immediately opened fire on the Cyberkin, opening the wound of war in a time period so far from where it had originally been carved.

“Oh no…” said the Doctor.

“We need shelter!” said Yvonne, the roar of the encroaching tornado nearly drowning out her voice.

The Doctor grabbed Rose’s hand and pulled her along with him down through the hallway and to the back of the building, away from the section that had been blown open. A multitude of footsteps behind him reassured that the rest of the surviving Torchwood guards and researchers, as well as Mickey and Yvonne, had followed. The moment they entered the anterior of the research facility, the Doctor began to collect various objects and tools from around the room. He hooked each piece to the other, fashioning wires and other parts together.

“There’s an old storm shelter from when the mill was active,” said a guard. “We’re using it to store a few top secret artifacts, but we should all fit.”

“Good, go there,” the Doctor barked. He aimed is harmonic screwdriver at the device and it hummed in response. “NOW!”

“What about you?” asked Yvonne as she gestured for her team to head towards the bunker.

“I’m going to reopen the rift, but with this device attached to the generator. It’ll channel the energy toward the void, so that anything that has travelled through the Aether will get directed there and nowhere else. The tornado will be overhead in just a couple of minutes, and it’ll create enough power to suck anything into the rift as it crosses its path,” said the Doctor in a rush.

“Brilliant!” said Yvonne, grabbing Rose’s hand. “Come now, both of you!”

“I can’t leave him!” Rose jerked her hand away. “There are two levers, he needs my help!”

“No, Rose, you can’t,” said the Doctor as he put the finishing touches on his device. “Go with them. Please!”

“I won’t leave you! I’ve been through a lot with you, I can handle a tornado!” Almost as if to dispute her words, something large slammed against the side of the building, likely hurled from the force of the winds.

“It’s not just about the tornado, Rose. I’m going to make it a void rift. You could get pulled in right along with them! You’ve been through the Aether, you and Mickey. NOW GO!” The Doctor grabbed a collection of cables and robes and slung them over his shoulder.

Mickey grabbed Rose from behind and dragged her out with him, following the others as they left the building for the shelter. The Doctor stared after her, knowing how much she hated to her core that she wasn’t given a choice in the matter. He cringed inwardly, feeling as though he had just gone against everything they discussed earlier that day. Though, now it seemed like that conversation had taken place eons ago on another planet. He sighed and shouldered his way through the door and back down the hall towards the war zone.

The Cyberkin and Daleks were still fighting, lasers flaring everywhere. Most had taken the battle outside to the field nearby, and he hoped that Rose and the others were able to make it to the shelter without being attacked as well. He hooked his device up to the generator, which was a struggle in the strong winds. The storm was very close, and all he had to do now was throw both of the large levers on either side of the room. He was about to head to one of the levers when a red and gold flash of color caught his eye.

Rose. She pushed her hair out of her face as it was whipped by the winds. He rushed to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “What are you doing here? I said go!” He couldn’t keep the anger and fear from his voice, and in a way he didn’t want to. She had to hear what this was doing to him.

Rose held his gaze, unflinching, as he loomed over her. Her voice was firm, though she had to nearly shout over the winds. “I made my choice a long time ago and I’m never gonna leave you.”

The Doctor stared at her and loosened his grip. His hearts lurched into his throat as he felt her connection to the Aether of this world begin to unravel the moment he let her go.

“Tell me how I can help,” she said, and he saw her eyes cut over his shoulder. Fear crept across her features, marring her bravery, and he turned away from her.

“Go pull that lever, I’ll pull this one. Strap yourself to the mechanism with this,” he shouted over the winds and tossed her a rope. “On the count of three.”

Rose nodded and hurried over to the lever. He screamed the countdown against the deafening roar as the tornado reached the lake just a few yards away. It was massive; he couldn’t even see its entire breadth in the scope of his brief glance. Once they were secured in place by the straps, they pulled the levers simultaneously, and the rift reopened in the space before them.

The tornado barreled overhead, winds slicing through the remnants of the building and flinging debris wildly. Though as it reached the vicinity of the rift, it took on an eerie, glowing quality. Dirt, glass, small trees, boards and other things it had picked up on its path floated down to the ground like leaves, while the Daleks and Cyberkin were sucked up in the cyclone as its center encompassed the rift. 

The Doctor kept his sights on Rose as she clung tightly to the lever. He felt an immense measure of relief that she had successfully tied herself to the mechanism in time, even though the pull of the vortex had her by the legs. She smiled across at him and he thought that just maybe he’d been wrong. He felt the winds pulling him in towards the rift, but he held on tightly as well. His device was working!

But then an errant laser fired by the last remaining Dalek as it was sucked asunder tore through Rose’s ropes and she lost her grip. She screamed and clung desperately to the lever itself, no longer tethered to the safety of this universe.

“Rose!” the Doctor screamed. “Hold on! Please, hold on!”

Rose’s hands slipped further, until she had the lever by its handle. The force was too strong.

“HOLD ON!” The Doctor cried desperately.

Rose’s eyes met his apologetically as her fingertips lost their grip and she flew backwards. He heard her scream, distinctive among the howling of wind.

“ROOOOOSE!” He was ready to let go himself, his fingers dragging through the spiraling currents of air to unlatch himself from his own tether when he saw Mickey clinging to the skeletal remains of the building. He managed to work his way to the lever and ripped the void attuning device away from the generator. The force of his pull made him lose his grip and the cyclone pulled him into the air as well.

All the Doctor could do was stare, wide-eyed, as Mickey and Rose disappeared seconds later through the rift. The tornado moved on, resuming its natural state as it drifted away from the area. The Doctor pushed his lever to close the rift as the winds slowly faded around him.

He shuffled through the rubble and outside of the building ruins until he reached the grassy lawn. The sky above was dull and white, remarkably clear of the chaos that had just been overhead moments before. He could hear the whirring of the tornado in the distance, but he kept his eyes on the sky directly above him.

She was gone, but he owed it to Mickey to have risked his own life to save Rose. Thanks to him, they were safe in an alternate universe, instead of lost to the void. Though he had no way of knowing which universe, he at least knew she would be alive.

///

Rose opened her eyes to find herself lying on her back, looking up at a blank white sky. There was evidence that a tornado had just gone by, but the Torchwood building ruins were nowhere to be seen. She sat up and looked around, finding the area familiar, but not the same. She swept damp hair from her face and stood.

“Doctor!” She called, looking wildly at her surroundings. She plucked the rain-soaked material of her skirt away from her legs and took a few steps.

“We’re in another universe, Rose,” Mickey said.

Rose glanced at him, not understanding. “What?”

“I came back to get you, to bring you back to the shelter but I was too late. He said that thing he made would redirect the rift to the void or some such. All I could think to do was unhook it so you wouldn’t go through,” Mickey sighed and shielded his eyes as he gazed at the sky. “Think we went to another universe instead of the void.”

Rose shook her head in disbelief, then cupped her hands around her mouth. “Take me back!” she cried out to the sky, tears spilling from her eyes. “Take me back!”

“I’m sorry, Rose. He’s not here.”

Mickey’s words ripped the air out of her lungs. “No…” She turned away from the horrible sky and stumbled through the high grass. “The TARDIS, gotta find…”

But the mill house wasn’t there, either. In its place was a two-story farm house that had been torn in two by the twister. The grass surrounding the lake was littered with leafy twigs and shards of wood, and off in the distance she could see the dark, lightning-stroked clouds of the receding storm.

Mickey joined her and wrapped his arms around her. She fell into the embrace so she wouldn’t collapse to the ground. Her arms were heavy and she could barely lift them to return the gesture, and her legs trembled with the effort to keep standing. Mickey rubbed her back and uttered words intended to comfort her, but they did very little in that regard.

“He’ll find a way,” Rose whispered against Mickey’s shoulder.

Mickey didn’t respond, just held her tighter. They were both stuck, she realized. Mickey had to be just as terrified as she was about what exactly it meant to be in a completely different universe. Would she run into herself? Could there be another Doctor here? She didn’t want to find out, really. She just wanted to get back to her own world.

“Look,” said Mickey and he gently parted from her so she could see.

Rose looked to see a couple with a small dog emerging from a storm shelter just off to the side of the damaged farmhouse. She wanted to feel relief for them for having survived such a catastrophe, but she found that she felt nothing at all. The damages they had to repair would likely overwhelm them, and yet she felt no compassion. Mickey nudged her as he began to head towards the couple, but she remained still.

“Come on, Rose. They’ll need help,” Mickey said.

Rose looked at Mickey and nodded, knowing he was right. In another universe, she wouldn’t have needed to be told such a thing. She joined him, though her vision was blurred by tears she hadn’t yet blinked away.

They walked through the wet grass until they reached the homestead, Mickey moving more purposefully a few paces ahead. The couple glanced their way as they approached and Rose almost screamed.

“My God,” Mickey said to himself.

There was no mistake. The couple standing before them was an exact copy of Rose’s parents. Except her father was supposed to be dead, and they appeared to be much more well off than Rose and her mother had ever been. Rose felt her mouth go dry and she lost the ability to speak.

“Howdy there,” said the Jackie copy. “You folks all right?”

Rose nodded, but still couldn’t find her voice.

Time went by like a dream after that moment.  The couple introduced themselves as Jackie and Pete Tyler, but they’d never seen Rose before in their lives. They had a dog named Rose, which fueled many questions that she didn’t yet have the courage to ask. Pete thought Mickey looked a lot like the fellow named Rickey who used to run a saloon a few towns to the south, except he was killed not too long ago in a bar fight. Renegade bullet; terrible accident, it was. Mickey said it was his brother and affected a somber demeanor that Rose found quite convincing.

Rose, eventually finding strength in this strange distraction, conjured up a cover for them on the spot as Jackie’s questions became more probing. Rose claimed she had lost her family in a prairie fire and they had been on their way south when the storm hit. Blew their carriage away as they took shelter in a ditch. The Tylers offered them a warm meal and rooms for the night. Mickey offered to help clean up the mess the storm left behind in return. Rose nodded along, relieved that the fog of grief had lifted just enough for her to feel a bit of sympathy for their situation.

They dove into helping the Tylers rebuild their home the following day, finding a little bit of comfort in the distraction of the labor involved. One day became two, and two days flowed into a week and then a month and so on, until the house was completely rebuilt. Every night, Rose fell asleep wondering if the Doctor would be there when she woke the next day. He had to know how to reach her; perhaps it just took a bit of time for him to figure it out.

One morning as Rose helped Jackie feed the few animals they kept on the homestead, Jackie asked about her lost family. Rose had formed a bond with the Tylers that bordered on familial, so she broke down and told her a story that was almost the truth. She even mentioned that she loved a man who died trying to save her from the fire. Though, as the words left her lips she turned away from Jackie to lose herself in her work once more. He hadn’t died. He was out there somewhere, searching for her. She just knew it.

Throughout their stay with the Tylers, Rose kept having reoccurring dreams. Dreams that she was a wolf or that she was Little Red Riding Hood, lost in a never ending forest. Dreams that one became the other—the Big Bad Wolf with a red skirt and a basket full of words that she’d scatter on the ground so that she could find her way if she got lost. Dreams of tornadoes and white skies and endless voids. Then one night, she dreamt of his voice.

_Rose…_

His voice whispered on a wind that passed through the dark forest in her dream. But, it was more than just a memory of him that her brain had flung to the surface. It was a calling. Leaden with intent and urgency and promise that if she answered, he’d be there.

_Rose…_

She jolted upright in bed, sticky from sweat despite the thick snow that had fallen the day before. Moonlight dappled the wooden floor with blotches of light as it shone through the old tree outside.  She pressed her hand to her chest as though it could calm her frantic heart and looked around to get her bearings.

_Rose..._

Blinking, Rose swung her legs over the side of her bed. She heard it again just then. It wasn’t her imagination. She crossed the small room to the window and looked up at the full moon. A memory surfaced of standing on the moon and looking up at Earth.

“I’m listening,” she whispered with tears in her eyes. Silence followed, and after waiting several minutes and hearing nothing else, she sighed and shuffled back to the bed.

She thought it would take her forever to fall back asleep, but it didn’t. Another dream came to her, however. A sandy beach with waves churning against the shore. Sea grass blowing in a salty breeze and gulls wheeling overhead. There was a lighthouse on the shore, its body painted with a black and white spiral.

When she woke the following morning, she began to pack up the few belongings she had accumulated. She had no question that the lighthouse had been a message from the Doctor. Not only was her memory of the place clear, it was accompanied with the overpowering need to go there as soon as possible. And that _had_ been his voice. Not a memory of his voice, it was his actual voice. She just knew it.

She quickly dressed and rushed to Mickey’s door, only to find it wide open and empty. Of course—he was going to get an early start on shoveling snow with Pete. She hurried downstairs where she found Jackie making breakfast, the enticing smell of bacon and eggs on the air.

“Bee in your bonnet, Rose? You’re never so excitable this early in the morning,” Jackie said as she sipped a cup of coffee.

“Do you know anything about lighthouses?” Rose asked, snatching a slice of bacon.

“Um, I know what they are,” Jackie said with an arched eyebrow.

“I mean, do you know if there’s a lighthouse that’s painted with a black and white spiral?” Rose pressed.

“You’ll have to ask Pete,” said Jackie. “I think so, but I don’t remember where. Honestly, Rose, are you all right?”

Rose sighed and whirled towards the door, leaving Jackie’s question unanswered. She ran out on the porch and called out to Pete, who was in mid shovel. He seemed to welcome the break, and headed for the house without protest. Mickey joined him and they stood at the bottom of the porch stairs looking up at Rose, clouds of cold breath hanging in the air. Rose asked him about the lighthouse, heart in her throat as she waited for his answer.

“Oh, that’s the Cape Hatteras lighthouse in North Carolina. Why?” Pete answered with confidence.

“I need to go there as soon as possible. I, ah… received a telegraph from distant family,” she said in a rush.

“When could you have possibly received a telegraph?” asked Pete, leaning on his shovel. “And you can’t really go anywhere in this snow.”

“But I have to.” Rose looked at Mickey, hoping he’d chime in, but his eyebrows were raised just as high as Pete’s. She took a deep breath. “I’ll explain everything.”

They headed inside and Rose pulled Mickey aside to tell him about the Doctor’s message. He seemed reluctant to believe her, but didn’t refuse to help. Rose hugged him, thankful for his friendship. They may have had a rough patch a while back, but those days seemed like another life. If not for him, she’d still be shouting at the sky.

Telling the Tylers the truth was a different worry all together. She stuck with her telegraph story, but in the time between first blurting it out and gathering everyone before the fireplace, she thought of a believable way to elaborate. She said she’d received the telegraph before the storm and had intended on responding when they reached Little London. She just forgot with everything that’d been going on, and a dream of the lighthouse reminded her that’s he needed to go. The telegraph had been urgent, and she had to risk the snow.

The Tylers agreed to help them get to the nearest train station the following morning, and soon they were on the way to coastal North Carolina. Rose had drawn out her goodbye at the station, expecting to never see this version of her parents again. As she boarded, she smiled. Her real mother was no doubt worried about her and soon enough they’d be reunited.

The train ride was long and gave her far too much idle time to fret over whether they’d get there in time. At last, they arrived on Hatteras Island by carriage and made their way to the lighthouse. She was relieved to find that it looked exactly as it had in her dream.

Mickey hung back with her belongings by the small line of grass-covered dunes as Rose walked along the damp sand near the shore. The day was gray and windy, and a biting chill managed to wedge its way under her layered skirts and up the sleeves of the thick dress jacket.  Sand pipers scurried along, chasing tiny sand crabs in the receding waves. She looked around continuously, expecting to see the TARDIS pull up at any moment.

Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she turned to see the outline of the Doctor a few feet away. She bridged the distance in a matter of seconds, heart leaping in her chest.

“Where are you?” Rose asked, stopping short as she realized he was transparent.

“I’m inside the TARDIS,” he said. “I’m in the very distant future. The sun is expanding, giving off enough energy for me to transmit this message through the rift.” He smiles, laughing a little. “I’m burning up the sun just to say goodbye.”

“You look like a ghost…” Rose shook her head, not quite understanding. _Goodbye?_

“Ah, just a moment,” he took out his harmonic screwdriver and adjusted a setting, then aimed it off to the side. He solidified before her eyes and she took a step closer, reaching out her hand.

“Can I—“

“Still just an image. No touch.” The Doctor frowned.

“Can’t you come through properly?” Rose felt her body begin to tremble as reality sank in. Still, she had to ask.

“I can’t. It could fracture both universes. This rift has to heal and if I came through… that’d be all it could take.” The Doctor’s eyes were heavy with sorrow.

“So?”

The Doctor smiled. They held each other’s gaze for a moment before he looked around. “Where are we?”

“Cape Hatteras in North Carolina.” Rose glanced up at the lighthouse and back at the Doctor. There was no mistake; he wasn’t coming back for her. _Couldn’t._  She would make the most of this moment, then. “How much time do we have?”

“About two minutes,” he said. “Not enough.”

Rose nearly laughed at how absurd this was. “I don’t know what to say.”

The Doctor smiled slightly, and then glanced over to the dunes. “I see Mickey’s all right. That’s good.”

Rose nodded and looked down. “And my parents are here. Well, a version of them. Of all the places to land in this world, we landed practically in their back yard.”

The Doctor looked taken aback. “Is that so? Is there a…”

“There’s no me. Just a dog,” she bit her lip before adding. “Named Rose.”

“Really!” the Doctor failed to hide his amusement, but quickly shook it off as his eyes roved her disapproving expression. “How long has it been for you here?”

“A few months. We’ve helped them rebuild—their house was damaged badly in the storm. They took us in for a while till we could set out on our own again.”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “Then what?”

“There’s a Henrik’s Saloon here, too. Reckon I’ll go down and see if they need a dancing girl,” Rose said. She smiled a bit through her ruse.

“Aha! Good for you. I liked the number you did in the pink dress.”

Rose laughed. “Oh hush, you. That’s what I wore when you first met me and I wasn’t doing any dancing that night. Running for my life, more like it. Anyway, no. That ain’t me anymore. Reckon there could be a Torchwood here and… well, I know a thing or two about the otherworldly all its dangers now.”

“That’s more like it. Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth.” He beamed at her.

Rose drank in his smile. There was another moment of longing that lingered between them before the Doctor spoke again.

“You’re dead officially, back home. I’ve gone to your mother and let her know what happened.”

Rose finally broke at his words. She let the tears fall freely as she sobbed against her open hands.

“But here you are living your life. The one adventure I can never have…” his smile faltered and his hands lifted up as though he intended to comfort her. He lowered them when he remembered that he couldn’t. “Have a fantastic life for me, Rose… do that for me.”

Rose shook her head and choked out her words. “Am I ever going to see you again?”

“You can’t,” he said softly, and his voice had broken, too.

“What are you going to do now?”

“Oh, I’ve got the TARDIS. Same as before. Suppose I’ll keep traveling.” The Doctor looked up towards the sky.

“On your own?”

The Doctor nodded solemnly.

Rose began to cry harder. She imagined him alone, wandering the desert in his old blue stagecoach with no one there to help shoulder the burden of his grief or to share in the excitement that adventure brings. Everything she felt for him rushed to the surface in that moment and she looked up at him.

“I lo—,” the words broke off in her throat as another swell of sorrow overcame her. She wiped at her tears and took a moment to compose herself. “I love you.”

The Doctor gazed at her, helpless. “Can’t say I blame you.”

Rose choked out a laugh amid her sobs and shook her head. This entire moment felt too much like any other conversation they could’ve had in the past, punctuated with disarming, flirtatious jibes.

The Doctor took a breath and held her gaze. “I suppose, if it’s my last chance to say it…”

Rose felt like her heart might burst. She swallowed, listening.

“Rose Tyler…”

And then he vanished, leaving the unspoken words hanging in the void between universes.

Rose blinked several times, not wanting to believe he had gone. She bowed over, the crushing weight of his loss pulling her down to the damp sand. She fell to her knees and burrowed her face in her hands, her body wracked with sobs. The voice of the Beast echoed in her head as she cried, taunting her with a warning of her death. As she felt Mickey lift her into an embrace, she knew that this was the day she’d died.

 


	13. The Wastelands

Rose gave herself time to grieve on the train ride back to Jackie and Pete’s house. Mickey made valiant attempts to console her, to reassure her that the Doctor wasn’t dead. He was so alive, and so was she. But, it felt a lot like death. Abrupt, tragic and cruel. Rose didn’t want to believe that there wasn’t a way back to him after everything the Doctor had shown her. So many impossible, unfathomable things proven to be not only possible, but prolific.  She’d decided that her misery would end when she stepped off the train, but it was a difficult promise to keep. Every quiet moment was heavy with the realization of his absence. She didn’t know what to do with her life in those moments; she thought she’d be with the Doctor forever.

But outside of those quiet moments, Rose worked. The first thing she did when she returned from the lighthouse was to inquire for information on Torchwood University. There had to be one in this universe, and perhaps they could help her find a way back. Sure enough, her search led to a town called Victoria, settled a few miles northeast between Little London and her current location at the Tyler’s residence. She found convincing Mickey to be a lot easier than she thought it’d be. Traveling with the Doctor had changed him as well. Neither of them would be able to settle for less. And so, Rose and Mickey parted ways with the Tylers once more to head to Torchwood.

It took several weeks to get her foot in the door. Torchwood in this universe was even more clandestine, if that were possible. It was more of a localized institution than a sprawling university open for students from around the country. They kept getting turned away with suspicious glares and threats from the gate guard, but Rose was determined. She decided to shirk all presence and came right out with the truth.

“We’re from an alternate universe and we want to find our way back,” Rose said.

The gate guard didn’t even blink. “Come back in three hours.”

“Thank you,” Rose replied. They left to wait out the hours in the nearest town.

When they returned, a coach was waiting for them by the gate. They were escorted down a long drive flanked by trees that arched overhead, branches meeting in the middle to form a living tunnel.  A footman met them when they reached the estate, and led them through a side door. Inside, they were greeted by a man in a long, black coat and a handsome smile.

“Jack Harkness, pleased to meet you,” he said, shaking Mickey’s hand. He stepped over to Rose and took her hand, brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss against her knuckles. “And very pleased to meet you, my lady.”

Rose might have blushed and returned his smile if she weren’t so eager to get to business. “Rose Tyler, and that’s Mickey Smith.”

Jack let go of her hand and folded his arms. “You said you were from another universe. Come in, we’ve prepared for your arrival.” He led them through dimly lit corridors to a room with a heavy wooden table in the center. Two women and two men sat at the table, and there were three empty chairs.

“Please, have a seat,” said Jack. He took his seat at the head of the table. “Introductions. This is Gwen, that’s Ianto. Owen and Tosh. Everyone, meet Mickey and Rose. They’re the ones who claim to be from an alternate universe.”

The woman called Gwen sat forward. “You have our attention. Why did you seek us out?”

Rose’s leg shook under the table as nerves claimed her. She’d rehearsed this moment over and over, and now that it was finally happening, she couldn’t remember where she wanted to begin. She took a deep breath and went with the first thing that popped into her mind. “In my universe, Torchwood is a university. I didn’t work directly with them, but I knew of them. They were conducting research on time travel and had apparently collected a number of artifacts from the future. I encountered Torchwood while traveling with a man in a blue stagecoach from millions of years in the future.”

Jack steepled his hands as he listened, his expression showing unabashed caution. “What makes you think we believe you?”

Rose blinked at that. “Well, you let me in, didn’t you?”

“We did! You see, we believe you because we recently wrapped up an investigation into the anomaly that brought you through. We deemed your presence here harmless, as there isn’t a Rose Tyler here, and your double,” he nods to Mickey, “was killed. Not much of a mess to clean up, so thank you for that. You’re partly right about Torchwood. We conduct research on time travel and related phenomena. But, more than that, we’re a,” he waved his hand as he thought of the best metaphor, “We’re a gatehouse of sorts. We span across the multiverse. In the moment an alternate universe is created, a Torchwood official is sent to keep watch on things, collect information. And then set up a new branch of Torchwood that suits the needs of that particular universe. I’ve been in this universe since it was created, oh… two hundred years ago.”

Rose felt more at home in this strange manor with these strange people than she had her entire stay with the Tylers. She leaned forward, captivated. “So, you’re saying you’re from another universe as well?”

Jack grinned. “I’m from the primary universe, as we all are. Time agents, we’re called.”

“Prime universe?”

The man called Ianto spoke up to answer. “There are multiple prime universes, and each universe has its own network of alternate universes. They are technically alternate timelines of the same universe.”

“How would we know if we’re from a prime universe or not?” asked Mickey.

“You said you traveled with a man from a million years in the future, did he not explain all of this to you?” asked Jack.

“We’re also from the prime universe,” said Rose. She was certain. “The Doctor kept calling this an alternate universe. That the Cyberkin’s tests were tearing a hole between ours and an alternate universe. So, we want to get back to the prime universe. Please, you must know how.”

“The Doctor, you say?” Jack’s expression went dark. “I’m afraid you can’t go back.  Once you’ve crossed over, you’re here forever.” This statement brought a resounding silence to the room.

Rose’s brow met in confusion. She looked around at the faces surrounding her as they looked back to her. They each regarded her with a variation of suspicion. Finally, her voice broke the silence. “I’m afraid I don’t believe you.”

Jack chuckled, but quickly composed himself, acknowledging Rose’s sharp glare. “Rose Tyler, would you mind explaining how you got here?”

Rose took a deep breath and explained just about everything they’d need to know. The tornado, the rift. The Daleks and the Cyberkin. She answered their questions to the best of her ability, and when the conversation drew to a close, Jack stood to pour himself a glass of whiskey. Rose caught sight of the double holster at his hips, and the guns therein. She began to feel a bit nervous that she had said too much, when Jack turned back to the table.

“Look, to my knowledge, there isn’t a way back. Torchwood is only able to communicate with the primary universe for a brief window of time. Once the new universe is firmly coalesced, it’s cut off. You’re stuck here, and I’m so sorry. But, with your knowledge and experience, Torchwood would be very pleased to have you on board.” Jack smiled, though this time it was softer and more sincere.

Rose looked down. “All right. What exactly would I do?”

“First, you’d need proper training. Then you’d be given test assignments to complete in the field, and once you’re successful, you’ll be an official Torchwood operative,” Jack explained.

Rose felt eager to begin straight away. She didn’t believe Jack for one second that she couldn’t find her way back to the prime universe, but if he wasn’t going to be forthright or helpful, she’d have to learn what it would take to figure it out on her own. “Mickey, what do you say?”

Mickey tipped his hat up. “I reckon I can help, but what kinds of assignments would we be given?”

Gwen was the one to answer. “You’d help people who are affected by anachronistic technology or supernatural interference. Investigating leads and collecting data would come once you know more about what to look for.”

“Any other questions?” asked Jack.

“Yes, I have two,” Rose began. “Why do I not already exist here, and how do you know the Doctor?”

 

///

The Doctor swirled his fifth glass (or was it seventh? He’d lost count) of whiskey around to watch how the light hit it from the lamps over the bar before downing it in one gulp.  He had tried everything he could think of to get Rose back. There were ways, yes, but not a single one was within his grasp. The technology for trans-dimensional travel was not accessible to him at any point in Earth’s timeline. He did not have the ability to travel to places in the galaxy where it could be available. His penance for destroying Earth was being trapped in its past to witness, in slow succession, everything he had ruined with no way of escaping, and he was just coming to terms with it. Rose had helped make it all bearable, but now...

He’d been restless before, but nothing compared to this. He rarely remained in one town longer than a few days, and his current perch, Cardiff Springs, would wear him thin just like the rest. And so he’d travel on.

“I burned up the sun, you know,” the Doctor said to his glass.

The bartender regarded him suspiciously as he cleaned a glass nearby. “Come again?”

“To say goodbye to her. I used the energy from the dying sun to send a signal through a rift. Found it by sheer luck. The rift.”

“Think you’ve had enough to drink, son,” said the bartender and took the Doctor’s glass.

“Impossible. I can still remember everything,” the Doctor put his head down in the hook of his arm and stared at the scuffs and scrapes on the wooden bar. Besides, he couldn’t really get drunk, not properly. Not off of this antique concoction. All the alcohol did was soften the edges of his inhibitions. He let his own anger and sorrow do the rest. Openly admitting he’d burned up the sun would get him strange looks. Not like anyone would believe it. In other words; he’d given up. He couldn’t care less if they thought he’d lost his mind.

“Go home, partner.”

The Doctor found this particular bartender to be a trifle irritating, which is why he kept coming back. The hollow terms of endearment, terms he could never live up to in any meaningful way—son, partner, friend—were rather good at pushing that dagger of self-loathing just a little bit deeper. He swiveled around on the stool and scanned the bustling saloon.

“Don’t have a home. Not anymore,” he murmured, glancing back at the bartender. “Thanks for the swill.”

The bartender rolled his eyes. Clearly this guy was getting sick of him, but he didn’t care. He wanted to keep everyone at bay. Returning his focus to the rowdy patrons, his mood darkened further when he saw the dancing girl begin her performance by the piano. She was blonde and wearing pink, and for a moment he pretended she was Rose. He had to look away, though, because she caught his eye and the last thing he wanted was for anyone to think he’d been flirting. But it was too late. She was crossing the room to him and he had to get out of there.

He decided to fake like he was actually drunk, and stumbled as he slid off of the stool. His foot caught on the leg of a table that was currently seating six intense cowboys in the midst of a high stakes game of poker. The table jostled, causing cards to scatter and glasses of whiskey to slosh. The Doctor cringed, closing his eyes. Scraping of chairs on the wooden floor followed, and the Doctor felt himself being lifted up by his collar. He opened his eyes to a snarling maw of yellow teeth framed by a grimy beard.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t beat the shit outta you,” the man growled.

Figured that he’d walk away from one complication and into another. The Doctor swallowed. “It’s not a very nice thing to do?”

“You might’ve just lost me sixty-two dollars. Don’t think that’s very nice, do you reckon?”

“I reckon gambling’s all about taking risks. If you can’t handle that, then you shouldn’t be gambling.” The Doctor knew he’d get a punch to the gut for that. And he did. He doubled over, wincing from the force of the blow. He staggered back and was shoved against the table, spilling precious alcohol and ruining the game for good. The piano stopped playing and the Doctor noted that all eyes were focused on the fray.

“Who do you think you are… my preacher?” Said the man, drawing his gun.

“No, much worse.” The Doctor scrambled to his feet, drawing his harmonic screwdriver from its holster. “I’m the Doctor.”

The man and his fellow gamblers burst out laughing at that. One of them shoved the Doctor forward, jeering. “What do you have there, Doctor? Gonna poke us to death?”

“I’d be happy to show you,” he said as he aimed it at his attacker’s gun and sent out a blast of energy, causing the gun to pop in the man’s hand. He yelped and dropped it, causing it to fire and blast a hole in the floor. This set off a chain reaction of panic and chaos as people ducked for cover. The gamblers were divided on how to respond—some joined the other patrons in ducking for cover, while others grabbed the Doctor and struggled to take his screwdriver.

“What the hell was that?” said the man, wincing as he sucked on his hand.

The Doctor barely had time to respond as he felt himself being pulled roughly across the floor and to the wraparound porch outside. He glanced over his shoulder—the bartender was there, looking properly irate.

“He started it, you know,” said the Doctor.

The bartender shoved him as he let go of his arm. “You’re a mess. Now go the hell home before I call the sheriff.”

“Thought we were friends!” The Doctor knew he should just let it go. He should just cross the road to his TARDIS and haul it out of Cardiff Springs. But he felt a small thrill at being obnoxious.

“Go or he’ll toss you to the dirt an’ horse shit.” The bartender shook his head in pity and gestured to the man who had helped him drag the Doctor out of the saloon.

“All right, all right,” the Doctor held up his hands in surrender and took a step back. But he forgot to account for the stairs being right at his heels and his foot came down wrong, sending him sprawling into the street anyway.

He groaned and pulled himself up; squinted through the settling motes of dust he had stirred in the wake of his blunder. He peered across the street at the TARDIS parked innocuously just a few paces away in front of the bank.  Babylon or the Zhou Dynasty was beginning to gain a bit of appeal. The post-Civil War, American west had long worn him thin. He trudged over to his stagecoach and patted the splintered and faded blue wood. “How d’you feel about a visit to the hanging gardens, old girl?”

The horse shook her mane and nickered.

“Yeah, me too.” The Doctor climbed into the driver’s box and grabbed the reins. Before he could enter the coordinates for ancient Babylon, he heard a commotion coming from inside the bank. He peered across the short distance into the window and caught a swift motion in the darkness. Gunshots followed, and soon two women rushed out from the alley between the bank and the post office. The women are wearing full, prim dresses with button-up bodices and lace at their collars. They held up their skirts as they ran, fear in their eyes as their pursuers follow close on their heels.

“Get back here!” said one their pursuers.

The other ran out to try and close in on them at a different angle.

The Doctor reached out and grabbed one of the women’s hands, and pulled her towards his coach. “Get inside, you’ll be safe!”

The woman he’d grabbed, the one with red hair and the green dress, asked no questions as she scrambled into the Doctor’s stagecoach, the other woman close behind. The Doctor ensured they were settled safely in the seat next to him, then snapped the reins and the horse took off. Bullets struck the TARDIS as they fled, but glanced off harmlessly. Shouts and the beating of horses’ hooves followed, but the Doctor had a lengthy head start. Eventually he had driven far enough out of town and into the desert wilderness that they lost his trail in the darkness.

The Doctor eased the coach to a stop by a massive column of striated earth when he thought the coast was clear, and sighed with relief. He turned to his passengers to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun. He looked up to its owner—the woman with red hair. His face twisted in confusion. “What?”

“We’d like to keep this carriage if you don’t mind,” she said as she cocked the trigger. “Was mighty nice of you to help us escape, so we’d hate to have to put a bullet in your chest.”

“What?!”

“That all you have to say, mister?” the other woman said, her dark hair swept up in a wide-brimmed hat.

“Um, well, you see…This is a custom stagecoach built especially for my traveling apothecary, and—“

“Spit it out! Don’t have all night,” said the woman with the gun.

“You wouldn’t be able to drive it,” the Doctor said in one breath. He gestured towards the control panel for effect.

Her eyes flicked down to the array of buttons and knobs. She made a face. “All right, then you drive and we’ll tell you where to go. Better?”

“Yes ma’am,” the Doctor eyed the gun with disdain. “Where exactly do you plan on having me take you?”

“Just drive, I’ll tell you where to turn. Head back to the road,” she said.

The Doctor brought the coach around and guided it back towards the road. Though he didn’t recognize the two women from the wanted posters he’d seen recently, they could’ve recently arrived to the area. They were rather well dressed for outlaws on the run, however. The older of the two, the redhead in the green dress, had pearl earrings and lace-gloved hands. Her younger companion wore an elegant dress in deep crimson satin with ribbon stitched along the seams that matched the ribbon around the crown of her hat.

As lovely as they were dressed, the Doctor had a feeling it was a deception. Something about their mannerisms and the way they spoke didn’t add up with their outward appearance. He wanted to know why. For the first time in the several months that had passed since he lost Rose, he felt curious. Genuinely curious. And so he decided not to fight whatever fate had brought them to his path.

“I’m taking an indirect route back to the road to be safe,” the Doctor said, breaking the silence.

“Smart,” said the younger woman. “Just no funny business.”

 “Oh, I think you’ll find I’m rather far from funny. Especially lately… I’m the Doctor, by the way.”

“Just _‘the Doctor’_? What kind of name is that?” asked the red-haired woman.

“It’s what I prefer to be called. What would you prefer to be called, madam?”

“Donna. Donna Noble.”

“And I’m Martha Jones,” the other woman said with a pretty smile.

The Doctor nodded. “Charmed. Though, I would probably be more charmed if I didn’t have a gun pointed at me.”

“Just keep driving.” Donna snapped.

The Doctor chose to remain quiet the rest of the way back to the road. He assumed they wouldn’t want to head back to Cardiff Springs, so he angled the coach to pull back onto the road in the opposite direction without being prompted. But the moment the horse’s hooves met the smoothed, dirt path, the coach was surrounded by men on horseback.

“Stop or we’ll open fire!” Shouted one of the riders. “You have one last chance to turn yourselves in. You’re lucky I’m feeling generous.”

The Doctor had to take a moment to steady his spooked horse, and he used the brief window of time to assess his options. He glanced over to Donna and Martha and knew he was as good as a fugitive as they were now—an accomplice in their escape. His performance in the saloon ensured that he hadn’t gained any favors with the locals, and the last thing he wanted to do was spend time in a jail. He’d find a way to escape. He always did, but something about these two women triggered his curiosity. That was it. He reached for the controls and quickly punched in coordinates.

“Might want to hold on,” he said, and snapped the reins.

“What are—“ Donna’s words became a yell of surprise as the stagecoach lurched forward. The black horse brought up her pace in a matter of seconds to a gallop, golden energy swirling from where her hooves met the earth.

Donna and Martha clung to the rails and to each other as they entered the Aether. The Doctor didn’t want to dally too long there, and had made sure to have them turn up in a completely different state. He guided the TARDIS out of the Aether and the sound of her galloping hooves resumed, though slowed to a steady canter as the Doctor pulled at the reins.

“What. The hell. Was that!?” Donna said as she pulled her hands away from her eyes.

“Oh, my God! How did you do that?” Martha said, nearly at the same time, her grip on the edges of her seat still firm.

“I didn’t want to get arrested,” the Doctor shrugged. “Had to escape somehow.”

“But—but. What just happened?” Donna realized she had dropped her gun; she reached for it to find that the Doctor now had it in his hand.

The Doctor released the chamber, let the bullets drop out to the ground and tossed the gun to the parched desert grasses.

Donna stared after it incredulously as they kept moving onward. “Hey! That was my grandpa’s gun!”

 “Where are we?” Martha asked, taking in her surroundings.

“I don’t know. I figured you wouldn’t mind so much where we go as long as we weren’t caught.” The Doctor practically beamed. “Now, while I figure out where we can stop, why don’t you tell me about yourselves?”

“I think you should do the telling. Going around calling yourself ‘the Doctor’ and spiriting us away like some kind of wizard. What is this thing?” She gestured to the TARDIS. “How did I blink and we’re in another state?”

“It’s the TARDIS.”

“The what?” Donna asked indignantly.

“The TARDIS.” The Doctor bit out, gripping the reins in irritation.

“That isn’t even a word. You’re just saying things.” Donna glared at him.

The Doctor pulled the stagecoach over to the side of the road and waited until it reached a complete stop before finally responding. “Fine, you have a point. All of this is probably too much for your tiny mind to comprehend. Why don’t I just show you?” He turned and reached back to the curtain that separated the driver’s box from the inside of the TARDIS. It was a narrow opening, mainly for ease of getting in and out without having to stop the TARDIS. Definitely not meant for skirts of their size, but he figured they could at least have a look. He pulled back the curtain.

Donna stared as he revealed the interior foyer and grand staircase beyond. Her mouth opened and closed as she worked through an assortment of emotions. “I get it. You’re an illusionist. A magician, or whatever. You go ‘round pretending to be some kind of Doctor to lure people to your sideshow. Well you should go back to the circus, ‘cause we ain’t interested. How’d you do the trick with the escape? A bunch of mirrors? Where are they? I bet there’s a mirror in there.”

“Might be real, Donna. Let’s have a look inside?” Martha suggested, but then she glanced toward the Doctor suspiciously. “Unless that’s where you keep everyone you’ve kidnapped. You’re not going to kill us, are you?”

“I haven’t kidnapped anyone! I thought you were in danger, so I helped you. That’s all,” said the Doctor.

“Oh? Then what’s this?” Donna picked up a women’s blouse that had been draped over the back of the seat.

The Doctor’s mood darkened. “Give that to me.”

“This belong to someone else you’ve abducted?”

“Someone I lost.” The Doctor snatched the garment from Donna. He looked down at it as he carefully folded it up, feeling the softness of the fabric. He thought of when Rose wore it last and how he had slid his fingers underneath to touch her warm skin. How he’d watched her close her eyes, reveled in how her lips curled into a pleasured smile as he explored the curves he uncovered beneath. He shook his head, filing the memory away as it only made his heart ache more than ever.

Donna’s face softened. “I’m sorry.”

“You all right?” Martha asked.

The Doctor shrugged and studied the readouts on the control panel. “We’re five miles southwest of the Kansas border. I’ll take you to the nearest town and you can get off there. We’ll part ways—no one will know you were with me and you’ll be safe from the authorities.”

“Hang on. You’re not going to show us a mansion inside of a stagecoach and think we’ll just walk off without giving it a second thought. Come on, give us a tour!” Martha suggested. “We’re in no hurry, are we, Donna?”

Donna scoffed. “Not now that we’re all the way up here.”

Martha put her hand on Donna’s arm. “We’re miles away from Lance, and at least we don’t have to answer to Torchwood anymore, right? Two birds, one stone. No more Lance, no more Torchwood.”

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow.

“What about you?” Donna said to Martha and shook her head. “I didn’t mean to get you involved like this. And now we’re way off course.”

“It was my choice to get involved, don’t you go blaming yourself. I want to find my family and there was no way I could do it without your help. As for Kansas…” Martha sighed. “Maybe we can find a train to New Orleans.”

The Doctor absently stroked Rose’s blouse with his thumb as he listened to their conversation. Now he felt incredibly guilty—but if he hadn’t intervened, they’d have clearly been in far worse trouble. He cleared his throat. “Have you two been on the run for long?”

Donna eyed him as though deciding whether or not she should trust him. “Two weeks.”

“That’s not too long. I’m sorry.” The Doctor wasn’t quite sure what to say. He shrugged. “Look, if you’d like, my offer for tea still stands. And I have a wardrobe filled with clothes, if you’d like to get out of those stuffy dresses.”

A smile broke across Donna’s face. “Now you’re talking.”

Once inside the TARDIS, Martha and Donna resumed a general state of awe. They inspected everything within their sights—the shelves of books and other oddities. The statues and paintings that lined the walls. The Doctor showed them to the wardrobe room and left them alone so he could prepare the tearoom.

Donna and Martha found the tearoom once they were dressed—riding breeches and comfortable blouses with boots and coats—and took their seats at the table with the Doctor. The conversation remained superfluous at first, until Donna made mention of how she’d run away from her own wedding and that’s how it all had started.

Lance, her fiancé, had worked for Torchwood and had been secretly using Donna as a vessel for an experimental form of energy. She was walking up the aisle when she suddenly found herself in the middle of a twister. She was untouched, but could see everything around her swirling in the violent vortex. She saw strange metal creatures locked in battle, beams of light arcing between them like colorful lightning. There were people there, also, moving around like ants far below. It was all so strange and she couldn’t put it to words, but the entire story set the Doctor on edge.

“I woke and found myself in an insane asylum. That’s where I met Martha,” said Donna.

“I was an apprentice medic,” said Martha. “I was tending to a patient when the entire hospital was whisked away to the…” she hesitated and glanced to the Doctor. Something must have reassured her, for she continued, “To the moon. Was only there for a short time, but… no one believed me. I saw it with my own eyes. Gray rocks for miles and the sky was so black. I must have fainted, cause when I woke… I was in the asylum.”

“We thought maybe we did go crazy, but… when we got talking about it, turned out her visit to the moon and my stint in a tornado happened at the same time,” Donna said. “We figured out a way to escape and we’ve been on the run ever since. Stole these clothes and a carriage…but Torchwood has been after us ever since.”

“Why did you risk robbing a bank?” asked the Doctor.

Donna stared at him flatly. “That’s your question? We just told you all that ridiculous stuff, and your question is why risk robbing a bank?”

The Doctor shrugged. “We’re inside a mansion that fits in a stagecoach. Oh, I’ve got more questions, but I figured that one might have the simplest answer.”

“We needed money,” said Martha. “We’re trying to get to Louisiana. My parents, they could help us...”

“See?” said the Doctor.

“Now you tell us about this woman you lost and we’ll have everything on the table,” said Donna.

The Doctor looked down at his untouched cup of tea. “I lost her on the same day.”

“This is getting too strange,” said Martha. “What d’you mean, you lost her?”

“There was a disturbance, a rift. The battle you saw, Donna—it really happened. That’s where I lost her. She’s a live, but… she’s not here anymore.” The Doctor looked up to see the compassion on Donna and Martha’s faces. Rose used to look at him that way. And anyone else, really. He sighed. “We were together.”

“Can you get her back?” asked Donna.

“No.” His response was quiet, and before they could press further, he sat up with a smile. “Would both of you like to travel with me? I could, I don’t know, maybe help you find your family. Help you get Torchwood off your backs.”

It surprised him how relieved he felt when they’d both said yes.

 


	14. The Stolen Rose

Rose didn’t flinch under Jack’s hard stare. She waited what felt like ages for him to respond. To sigh, roll his eyes, smirk. Anything. The others in the room began to fidget and exchanged awkward glances.

Finally he took a breath. “Come with me. Just you.” He nodded to Rose and headed for the door.

Rose stood, glanced at Mickey as he shot her a concerned look, and mouthed that she’d be all right. She then followed Jack out of the room and he led her down the main hallway. She was sure that she’d have marveled at the intricate seventeenth century architectural effects surrounding her if she wasn’t so intent on finding a way back to the Doctor.

After a few turns, several large paintings, a few suits of armor, and countless closed doors, they descended a flight of stairs into a darker, much less extravagant area. Servants crossed their path as they carried on with their daily tasks, many of them greeting her with a warm smile. She felt a little more comfortable down here where there were no hand-carved tables made of exotic wood or antique armaments hanging from the walls.

They passed the kitchens and at last, Jack escorted her outside to a covered stoop. Crisp, late afternoon air greeted her and she drew her riding coat around herself more tightly. Off to the right across the drive were the stables, and before her, beyond an enormous oak tree, was a fenced pasture for as far as the eye could see.

Jack led her away from the stoop and took her across the dirt drive to the wooden fence that enclosed the pasture. Several horses grazed in the distance and a line of dark trees stood further along the horizon. She looked up as a flock of small birds zipped past to see that the sky was awash in pale hues, heralding the oncoming sunset.

They waited for a while as a few crickets filled the silence between them, and finally Rose spotted a horse cantering up from around a thicket in the pasture a few yards away, its rider cast in silhouette against the gently fading daylight. Rose shivered at the sight of them as déjà vu came over her. There was something about the way that horse moved that just sent a shiver down her spine. Jack waved down the rider, who then changed course, heading in their direction.

The horse-and-rider drew closer, and Rose could finally discern their appearances. The horse, a mare, was pitch black, and her rider was tall with a brooding aura about him. He wore a black leather duster that was bunched up in the saddle behind him. The brim of his black hat was tipped low, so she couldn’t see much of his face other than his mouth, which was drawn in a thin line. He pulled the horse over to the fence and steadied her with a firm tug of the reins as she began to whinny and paw at the ground in agitation.  He then tied her to the post nearby and dismounted once he calmed her with a few soothing words.

Up close, the horse looked exactly like the one that pulled the Doctor’s TARDIS and she bit her lip, wondering when she’d stop seeing things that weren’t there. Probably never, as far as the Doctor was concerned. She looked away from the mare and up to the rider just as he began to speak.

“Hello, miss.” He tipped up the brim of his hat with a nudge of his finger and gazed down at Rose, his blue eyes and light complexion standing out starkly from the dark swath of fabrics he wore. His nose stood out prominently from the rest of his features—but it was a handsome nose. She squinted, noticing how his stoic expression had shifted to wide-eyed confusion. “R—rose.” His voice went hoarse and he looked away.

“Yeah. Who’re you?” That sense of déjà vu returned and she took a step back.

Jack cleared his throat. “Sorry. Was going to wait, but, she’s asking a couple of questions that I think you’re more qualified to answer.” He paused and gestured with a bit of a flourish. “Rose, this is the Doctor.”

“Pardon?” Rose shook her head and laughed in disbelief. “No. I know my Doctor and you ain’t him.” She took another step back. She hadn’t considered that there could be a Doctor in this Universe, or that she’d want to go find him. Either way, this man couldn’t be him. He had a hard edge to him, with a serious, haunted look in his eyes—none of the mirth and wonder of the Doctor she knew. Not to mention he was staring at her like she had just rose from a grave.

“Have a nice chat.” Jack turned and walked off, heading back for the manor.

“You’re not just going to… leave,” the Doctor said, and then sighed. He looked down at Rose, but said nothing.

“Who are you _really_?” Rose asked.

“They told me you were coming, but I had no idea what to expect,” he said, his accent betraying his northern origins. Possibly New England somewhere, but she couldn’t be sure.

“I’m sorry?” Rose shook her head, still a trifle disoriented. “You ain’t from around here, are you?”

He remained guarded, but leaned against the top rail of the fence. “You had some questions for me. Is that one of them?”

Rose inhaled and looked down at her feet, measuring how to word her response. After licking her lips, she looked back up to him and lifted her chin. “Jack said there wasn’t a… me in this universe. Nobody acted like they’d seen me before, but I just thought it was strange.” She swallowed, feeling a bit silly as the words left her lips. “Supposin’ you can tell me why?” A cool breeze blew through, making the old oak tree creak and hiss like rushing water. She shivered.

He looked up over her shoulder at the manor. “There was. She disappeared a while back.” His voice broke with grief and he scowled.

“Disappeared? S—sorry?”

“There was an accident and I lost her.” He looked back at her. “You’re cold. Come with me.” He untethered the horse and began walking towards the stables without looking back.

Rose watched him for a moment before she followed on the other side of the fence, dirt and gravel crunching under her boots. When she reached the stables, she climbed through the fence rails to enter the stables behind him. When she rounded the corner she gasped, as there in the glow of the gaslights was the worn, blue stagecoach she had grown to love like an old friend. Her eyes prickled as tears filled them, but she looked up and willed herself not to cry. Especially not in front of this man who, as mounting evidence suggested, was this universe’s version of the Doctor.

She was vaguely aware that he had busied himself with removing the horse’s saddle to brush her off as she fought her emotions. Her feet carried her forwards, moving as though entranced, and she reached out to touch the stagecoach. Her heart ached as her fingers brushed along the familiar wood and she felt the void of her Doctor’s absence begin to consume her right there on the spot. She looked around the side to the chipped and faded lettering that read, ‘ _Temporal Obscura, a traveling apothecary of rare cures and tinctures,_ _’_ and had to turn away, her mind flooded with memories that brought back the cold grip of heartache.

She nearly screamed as she turned; the Doctor had come to stand mere inches away, looking down at her with his eyebrows drawn together and a slight frown on his lips. He said nothing as he reached around her to open the door.

“After you,” he said with a halfhearted gesture.

Rose climbed into the TARDIS and breathed in the familiar scent as her eyes darted from the grand staircase, to each painting and statue, to the doors and light fixtures. Everything was just the same. She smiled as a gentle greeting brushed against her mind.

The Doctor walked past her, black leather duster swaying, and across to the TARDIS saloon. The doors swung open as he pushed through, and closed with a clap of wood against wood. Rose followed him and pushed through the doors to find him already seated on a barstool, slowly spinning a glass of amber liquid in his hand. She pulled out the stool next to his and hopped up, turning down his offer of a drink.

“No thanks. Like to keep my head on straight for the time being.”

“Suit yourself.” He looked at the empty glass and set it aside, shaking his head. “Back to those questions, Rose Tyler.”

She felt so awkward. He looked like a complete stranger, and yet her surroundings told a different story, one she felt she already knew. She considered her words and then leaned forward. “How come Jack wouldn’t tell me about why there isn’t a, um, me… in this universe?”

“There _was_ a Rose.” He took a sip of his whiskey.

“But there was a Mickey, too. Rickey was his name. Didn’t hesitate to tell me about him.”

“Rose disappeared in very unusual circumstances. Rickey died an ordinary, though no less tragic, death.”

She sighed, feeling like she was getting nowhere. “He called you the Doctor, but that doesn’t make a lick of sense. My Doctor—he doesn’t look anything like you.”

“That’s who I am.”

“Care to explain?”

He cut his eyes away from her, and shrugged. “My parents chose different genes, different physical attributes for me in different universes.”

“What…? But it’s not just the way you look—”

“What was your other question?”

Fine. He didn’t want to talk about himself. She’d respect that. “How did I—she—disappear?”

“Trying to save my life.”

Rose frowned, sorrow for his loss swelling in her heart. He looked so utterly lost—though he might’ve been trying to do his damndest to hide it.

He looked at her from under the rim of his hat and his expression softened, letting her in a bit. “There was a rogue time agent who’d skipped to this universe from another. Began taking over Torchwood from the ground up. He was going to throw me into the void.” He finally looked away from her. “We had to erase her parent’s memories of her and everything. It’s like she never existed.”

“I’m sorry.” There was a bigger story there, but she felt it would be wrong to pry.  “Why would Jack have me talk to you? Is he thick?”

“Because I can help you. They can’t; Torchwood is restricted from trans-universe contact or travel. Their hands are tied, but mine aren’t.” He finished his whiskey and poured himself another.

“I’m sorry, but it seems cruel of ‘em to chuck me at you if what you say is true. You might be the Doctor here, but you aren’t the Doctor I know. And I—”

“You’re not the Rose I know.”

“Yeah.” Rose began to fidget with her earring. “How long ago was it?”

“Four years now.”

Rose looked down. “M’sorry. I keep sayin’ that, but I don’t know what else to say. Feels weird to know I’m basically talking about myself.”

“You’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.” A wry smirk played on his lips.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Where am I, then? Why’re you calling me that?”

He chuckled. “It's from a book in the near future. It’s about a cyclone that carries a young woman to a distant land.”

“Was she looking for the Doctor, too?"

"The Wizard. And he turns out to not be what she expects."

"Sure this play ain’t about me?”

“Did you come here with a lion, a scarecrow, and a tin man?”

“No, just Mickey.”

“I’m sorry that you’re trapped here.” The look in his eyes softened further.

“Does Dorothy make it back home?”

“She does in the end.”

“What does she do? How does she get home?”

“She taps her heels together three times and makes a wish.”

“That all?” Rose laughed. “I’m willin’ to try anything at this point.”

He smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back, the way his dour façade broke like the sun through a storm.

“Did she love the Wizard?” Rose asked, still basking in the parallel.

The Doctor’s smile faltered. “Dorothy? No. It wasn’t like that.”

“Oh.” She wondered from the look on his face if he was talking about Dorothy or his Rose. “Tell me about her?”

He hesitated, peering closely at his glass. After a long sigh, he began.

“She looked like you. Talked like you. Seemed to have a similar personality, but she wouldn’t have turned down a drink if she were in your shoes.” His smile returned. “Brash and a bit crass. Loved to flirt. That would just set me off, but I’d keep a respectable distance. She was young and I was… well. She could look out for herself—hardly needed me around. Though I sure needed her.” His eyes drifted up to the assorted bottles of spirits behind the bar. “She’d point out things that I’d overlook. Taught me a thing or two about compassion and humility.”

Rose picked at her fingernails, wondering if his Rose knew how he felt about her. Some part of her also wondered if the situation were reversed, what her Doctor would say about her. She gave this Doctor a furtive glance. “What—what was she? I was a saloon girl down in Little London. Same for her I reckon, yeah?”

He turned towards her, shoving the glass of whiskey away. “She was an outlaw. The daughter of a wealthy conman who headed up a group of bandits known as the Vitex Gang. Her mother ran an inn where they were headquartered—the homestead where you were found. Rose grew up there and helped out in the family business by distracting the targets, either while they gambled at the inn or traveled the highway, so her father’s gang could take over.”

Rose’s eyebrows rose higher as his story unfolded. It was like he was telling her about a completely different person. “Doesn’t sound like me at all. What happened to her?”

“Long story short, they ended up unknowingly targeting rogue Torchwood agents and got caught up in something bigger and darker than they expected. The gang, including her family, was captured. She managed to escape and ended up in Little London, hiding out as a shopkeeper’s assistant while she worked out a plan to help free her parents before their trial. She was hunted by this rogue division of Torchwood, and they’d followed her trail to Little London. I met her when I was investigating strange activity my TARDIS scanners had picked up. Ended up in Torchwood’s crosshairs, both of us. Took her hand and said one word…”

“Run.” Rose bit her lip as their eyes met. The word popped out of her mouth before she could stuff it back down.

His eyes went glossy and he looked away. “Yes.” He fell silent and worked his jaw, likely swallowing questions that upset him too much to ask. After a moment, he continued. “We became quite the team. Ended up that a rogue time agent—Lumic was his name—had been seeding corruption into the different branches of Torchwood. He was on some mad quest to take the whole thing over—all of them, across every universe.

“Eventually Jack was sent and regained control from Lumic. That’s when Rose and I joined forces with Torchwood. The legitimate Torchwood.  And… though our mission was a success, it wasn’t without casualties…” he looked down, his voice trailing off.

Rose reached out and put her hand on his. Just a simple gesture meant to comfort. His gaze snapped to her hand and he closed his eyes. Rose studied him, watched as he fought off emotions and memories that threatened to take him over. He swallowed thickly and looked back at her.

“Her parents were set free when it was all said and done, but their memories had to be erased of the whole thing. Torchwood set them up at the inn, converted it to a homestead, and that’s where they’re living now.”

Rose thought back to her stay with the Tylers in this universe. The whole time they had no idea that a version of their lost daughter was resting under their roof. Not that they had the memories to even care. She looked down, saddened by how unfair it all was. “She sounds like somethin’ else.”

He smiled slightly. “I bet you’re not too different from her when you dig down.”

“Maybe.” She took a breath, deciding to steer the conversation away from loss. “You say you’re gonna help me. How can I help you help me?”

He sat back, reluctantly withdrawing his arm from her touch, and stood. Rose sensed that he was ready to see her out, and she turned on her barstool. He held out his hand to help her down from her stool. He led her to exit the TARDIS, neither one of them noticing that he hadn’t let go of her hand until they reached the door. He looked down apologetically at his now empty hand, and then back up to her. “Go join Torchwood. Do your training. You’ll know when you’re ready for my help.”

“Right, that ain’t cryptic at all,” she said, flexing her fingers. She then climbed down from the coach and looked back at him.

“Did you trust him? The other Doctor.”

Rose nodded. “Yes. With my life.”

“Then you can trust me.” With that, he closed the coach door, leaving her alone with the horses in the stables.

Rose wandered out to the drive and looked up at the massive Torchwood manor and the descending twilight above it. Another Doctor with another Rose. She wondered if they were lovers. Something about his body language when he spoke of her gave her the impression that he did have feelings for her. Her loss had clearly had a profound impact on him. This was all so bizarre, but she should know better than to be surprised anymore when things went all cactus-shaped. After a few minutes of watching the stars blink to life in the darkening sky, she headed back to the stoop and knocked on the door to be let inside.

 

Training began the following morning after a fancy spread of eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee. She was separated from Mickey and given a uniform—all black soft leather and indigo-dyed cotton. After two days of general overview—rules and practice drills, she was assigned her training schedule.

It was intense. Grueling and often rather boring. But it had to be done. Physical endurance tests, both on foot and on horseback, followed by hours of study in various subjects rounded off her days.  Everything from criminal justice to chemistry, lock-picking to astronomy comprised her lessons. She honed shooting skills, sharpened her deduction skills, and learned how to set bones and remove bullets. She never lost focus, finding that she grew quicker and sharper with every day, week, and month.

She kept to herself during down time. Sometimes she’d catch up with Mickey or head to town with Jack and Gwen for drinks, but she didn’t want to get too close. She wouldn’t be here too much longer, she could feel it. She played out scenarios in her mind—of reuniting with her mother, who would no doubt not let her leave her side for weeks until she was sure she wouldn’t disappear again. She’d smile in the quiet of her room at night, imagining how she’d want to wrap herself around the Doctor as soon as she saw him, not giving a damn who was around to see.

The one person she had wanted to get to know—the Doctor—had not come around very often.  He seemed to go out of his way to avoid her when he did, not that she could blame him. The handful of times they’d interacted, she’d catch him looking at her like she was a lighthouse lighting his way to shore after years of being lost at sea. When he found himself caught, his demeanor would shift and he’d talk about something else, something quirky, to distract her—or himself, more like. That’s when she’d notice he had the same otherworldly way about him that drew her so strongly to _her_ Doctor. That shift from sage to jester, and for a moment she truly could see that they were the same man.

After nine months of hard work, her training phase had come to an end and she began to take field assignments. When she gained access to the Torchwood archives, she finally felt like she was moving towards her goal. After returning from the field, visiting mysteries all across America, hours were spent assisting scientists in the archives, helping to reverse engineer anachronistic technology and identify components of machines, some of which hadn’t even been invented yet. She was granted special permission to study the material that was collected at the scene of the cyclone that had transported her and Mickey across universes, and that’s when she knew she’d see her mother and the Doctor before long. She’d had a feeling, now substantiated by experience, that this material—even if it didn’t make anything useful—would be the key to her return, because it was _from_ her universe.

Late one evening as she had the parts to the void attuning device spread out around her, she noticed something peculiar about the wallpaper behind a bureau across the room. It was torn at the edge and moved slightly as though caught in a draft. Had it been like that before? She stared at it, watched it flap subtly, and knew it hadn’t been. She’d have noticed. She rubbed her eyes, grabbed her lantern and brought it over to the peeled edge that had caught her attention. Cool air blew across her fingertips a she slid her them under the paper to tear it back a little.  A swoop of curiosity rushed through her and she almost cried, forgetting how much she missed that feeling of wonder. Smiling, she set the lantern down and tried to push the bureau aside to find it was heavier than a wagon of potatoes. She looked down to the bureau’s feet--bolted to the floor to boot.

Groaning in defeat, she leaned against the wall.  Something dug into her back and she shifted away from it only to hear a metallic click. She whirled around as the wall slid into itself, creating an opening from the seam she had inspected just moments ago. Grabbing the lantern, she peered into the dark opening, her heart hammering. The lantern’s glow revealed a flight of stone steps that led down into a dark, dank corridor.

The secret door had opened just wide enough so she could slip behind the bureau and descend the rough steps. She felt along its dirt walls, her fingertips coming up grimy from the damp soil. Wooden beams were positioned every few feet to reinforce the ceiling, and sconces were affixed to the beams where she could light her way. She chose to stick with her hand-held lantern and moved on, nerves sparking and heart racing in anticipation of what could lie ahead.

She walked along the corridor for what felt like forever when she finally reached a barred wooden door. Along the heavy bar was a system of interlocking gears and a panel to flip levers in a specific sequence to unlock it.  She moved to test a passcode, but stopped—her fingers hovering over the panel—when she heard a voice calling from the distance.

She snuffed her lantern and crept back along the corridor, using her fingers to guide her way along the wall. Dim light stretched from the distance, providing just enough light for her to see vague shapes.

“Rose? Are you in there?” the voice called again. It was Mickey.

Rose exhaled in relief and hurried around a curve to see him standing at the top of the stone steps, lantern held up before him.

“Mickey, come here. Want to show you something.”

“Rose? Supper is ready.” His feet scuffed on the stone step as he descended them. “What is this place?”

“Some kind of secret tunnel.”

“Not surprising. The house is full of secret passageways.”

“Is it?” Rose asked.

“Oh, yeah. I found one in the linen closet up in the servant’s floor. Leads all over the manor,” Mickey said, and he looked beyond her to the dark corridor.

“Follow me,” she said, and they walked back towards the locked door.

 “Here we are.” Rose gestured to the panel as they approached the door. “Any ideas?”

Mickey set his lantern down and kneeled by the door to inspect the gear mechanism more closely. He laughed. “Rose, this is the same locking system we’ve had to learn how to crack over and over.”

“What! That seems so irresponsible. Why would they do that?”

“Possibly so they can tell if a theft was an inside job. Maybe they’re not hiding anything too precious after all? Damned if I know.” He began to work with the levers.

Rose thought of the peeled wallpaper. “What if someone’s helping us all secretively? The Doctor said Torchwood’s hands are tied. Maybe… maybe they know they have a way back but they don’t want anyone to know they’ve helped us.”

“Wonder who?” Mickey said distractedly. After some time and a few winces, swears, and exasperated sighs, the gears began to click as they rotated, unlocking the door.

“Good work, Mick!” Rose grinned, clapping him on the shoulder.

Mickey stood and brushed off his trousers, then pushed through the door once the bar had slid out of the way. He held up his lantern as they stepped inside, revealing an enormous, well-lit room that stored large equipment unlike anything they had ever seen before. She couldn’t even begin to guess their uses.

“Oh, my God. This place is huge!” Rose said, peering inside.

“Think we’re under the pasture,” said Mickey. “Figures, don’t it?”

“Incredible.” Rose wandered in further. Nestled between large, oddly shaped masses covered in burlap and hemp tarp was a setup remarkably similar to the lever room in the Torchwood building in their universe.

Rose recoiled at the sight of it. “Wha—how? Are these the same ones?”

Mickey walked up to one of the levers and ran his hand along it. “Believe so.”

Rose inspected the other equipment in the room for some time, before she threw her hands up in exasperation. “I think I’m goin’ to get the Doctor for this one.”

“Sure he’ll want to help you? He seems like he’d rather keep to himself.”

“He said I’d know when I’d need him and here we are. If anyone could figure this mess out it’d be the Doctor. I reckon he’s the closest thing we got.”

“I’ll let you be the one to strike up that conversation.” He smirked.

Rose rolled her eyes. “O’course.”

They made their way back to the archive room, careful to cover their tracks lest they not incriminate themselves or their mystery helper.

That night, Rose dreamt that she was a wolf again. She padded through that same dark forest, but this time she met a woman in a wedding gown with red hair who said she knew the Doctor. _Her_ Doctor. But every time she tried to ask her how, the woman would get frightened and turn away, her wedding veil parting like wings. She’d scream and leap into the air only to shatter into a hundred white birds. Rose would pad around in a circle, helpless, paws sinking into soft snow and find herself behind the bride yet again. Over and over it happened, until the dream became lucid, and she could make herself stop asking about the Doctor.  She was compelled to leave this strange woman a message for him instead, and so she whispered it at the woman’s back, but no words came. Only a long, lonely howl.

Two days later, the Doctor stood with Rose and Mickey in the hidden room, his face a mask of concentration as he looked over what surrounded him.

Rose stood nearby, chewing on her fingernail, waiting for him to say something. She was wearing a fancy lavender gown that flared around her legs in heavy silk and her hair was pinned up with a feather ornament. Her and Mickey had just returned from a town celebration, having left early so she could concentrate on her work before everyone else returned, when she saw the Doctor’s stagecoach in the drive. She immediately rushed to bring him down and show him what they had discovered.                                                                                                   

“You said Jack has no idea you found this room?” he said.

“Never mentioned it to him or anyone for that matter. Did my best to hide our tracks.” Rose approached one of the levers, scowling at it for what it represented to her.

“These things—they were involved in ripping a hole in reality back where I came from. I was thinking maybe we’d need them to get back, though.”

“Those levers are useless,” the Doctor said, not even looking at them.

Rose spun towards him. “What?” Her heart sank. Every idea she’d come up with had so far been a dead end.

“But this…” he began as he crouched by a metal platform. “This is quite the find. I wonder how they came across something like this.”

“What is it?” Mickey asked.

“Cyberkin teleportation rig. They could fit about twenty soldiers on one rig and transport them across the continent to fight the Dalek fleets.”

Rose’s eyes grew wide. “Could that be what they used to test teleporting soldiers across the galaxy?”

The Doctor looked up at her, puzzled. “How could you know—”

“Long story. Don’t want to get into it. Look—,” she held up a finger and dashed from the room to the outer archives and sorted through the deconstructed bits of the void attuning device. She found what she determined was the power source, and brought it to the Doctor. “This. This was in something my Doctor made. Do you think you can somehow use it to attune this teleporter to my home universe?”

The Doctor grabbed it and looked at it closely, a peculiar glint in his eyes. “No. This is junk.”

Rose frowned, her heart sinking further. Maybe she’d grabbed the wrong bit? “I, ah, there’s more out there… if you’d like to look. He made it, and I know—”

The familiar whirring sound of the harmonic screwdriver filled the cavernous room and Rose closed her eyes at how beautiful it sounded to her ears, her words dying on her tongue. When she opened her eyes, the Doctor was staring at the screwdriver, his brow furrowed.

“Stay here.” He stood and brusquely walked past her, shoving the screwdriver in its holster at his hip.

“Hold on there, partner,” Rose quipped. “Where are you going?”

“You want to get out of here, don’t you?”

She nodded firmly.

“I’ll be back,” he turned away to leave and stopped, then gave her another look over his shoulder. “You look beautiful. Considering.” With that, and a smirk, he exited and pulled the door shut behind himself. A series of clicks, followed by groaning and grinding sounds and one final thud locked them in.

“Considering _what_?” Rose stared after him, her mouth hanging open.

“He just locked us in,” Mickey said. “What in hell is going on?”

“He said he’d be right back.”

“And you trust him?”

 Rose sighed and sat down on a crate nearby. “I do. He’s the Doctor, so, he wouldn’t be cruel for no reason.”

Mickey shook his head slightly. “The Doctor hasn’t exactly always been truthful to you, Rose.”

She wanted to argue with him, scream at him, but knew he was right. “Look, I’m sorry I’ve—I feel like—,” she stumbled over her words and sighed. “I feel like I’ve taken advantage of you all this time. Got you pulled into another stupid universe and everything.”

Mickey shook his head. “Stop right there, miss. You’re like family to me. You and the boss, so, I do what I can for family. But don’t go thinkin’ I haven’t done this for myself either.  I had nothing going on in Little London. Tended a bar, but had to put up with so much shit from people every day.

“You know how it feels to have someone ask for a bartender when I’m standin’ right there? Sometimes they’d pretend I didn’t exist. Said I blended in with the wood and the dark whiskey bottles on account o’my skin and have a laugh with their buddies. You might not’ve noticed since you were out there dancing. Not sayin’ that were easy on you, but for God’s sake. It was funny to them that I didn’t exist!” He paced as he spoke, hands hooking into his belt to keep them from shaking.

“Remember Deffrey Vale? Remember walkin’ through that town and people shouting things at me and Sarah Jane? I’d‘ve loved to show ‘em a piece of my mind, but I had a place in the world and it was better than most like me after the war, so I held back my anger. I don’t feel like it was noble. Don’t go thinking it was ever noble of me. I had nothing else going for me. I didn’t even used to _care_. That was just the way of things. But going on adventures with the Doctor made me care. _He_ didn’t change me. I changed myself. We saw things, Rose. We saw how things are possible if you put your mind and heart to it. It’s hard, but, made me see I can make a difference for people who don’t have as much as I do.

“So I want to get back to Little London and I want to never set a foot behind that damn bar again. I want to reach out to people who have no one in this world to fight for ‘em, and I want to fight for ‘em. I did this for family, and I did this for me.”

His chest rose and fell after he was done, and he wore a scowl that encompassed his anger and determination. Rose felt moved by his words, and crossed the distance between them to give him a hug. “Thank you.” She whispered as he returned her embrace. She held him for a moment longer, and then slowly released him. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with that. It’s not fair.”

He sighed and nodded, then shook his head, changing the subject. “If he doesn’t come back, I’m sure we’ll find a way out.”

“He’ll be back.”

They sat for a while in silence after that, and with every moment that passed, Rose felt less certain. When she was about to begin to search around for another way out, her hair stirred in a breeze, making a strand fall loose from the pin and hang in her face. She swiped it out of her eyes irritably. But the wind grew stronger, and the sound of galloping hooves echoed off the cavernous room. Grinding wheels and a horse’s whinny followed, and Rose’s eyes went wide. She shot up to her feet and looked behind her to see the TARDIS appearing in an empty space a few yards away.

“Doctor!” She grinned and rushed over to the blue stagecoach the moment it was solidified.

She heard Mickey’s footsteps rush up close behind her.

The Doctor climbed down from the driver’s box as they approached. For the first time since she’d met him, he wasn’t wearing his hat. His hair was shorn close to his head, making his ears stand out all the more.  She found him rather attractive, and blushed a little, looking down at the wheels instead. He was still the Doctor, so it’d be fine if she found him easy on the eyes—right?

He gave a little bow and smiled at her. “Hello, Rose. Mickey. Come in.”  He opened the door for them.

They climbed into the stagecoach and he led them to the internal control room. When he reached the console, he turned around and leaned against it, folding his arms.

Rose glanced around. “So…”

He smiled broadly. “Rose Tyler, I’ve figured out how you’re getting back.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh?”

“Of course! Don’t tell me you had doubts?” He shook his head and turned back to the console, working the controls.

“I did,” Mickey said with a chuckle.

“That figures.” The Doctor began to circle the console, flipping levers and turning dials. “Anyway. I knew there was something off about the pasture. I’ve been picking up odd readings. Rose… my Rose, she suspected that a rogue time agent was stockpiling an artillery of sorts, but we couldn’t figure out where.”

“Right under your nose, apparently,” said Rose.

“Yes. It would appear so. I don’t yet know if Jack knows about it, but I’d rather not tell him until you and Mickey find your way back.”

“How could they not know it’s right under their feet? Seems fishy to me.”

The Doctor nodded. “The readings I picked up were scrambled. At first it was coming from nowhere. You think this is fishy.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Then, I kept working at it. Took samples from the pasture and tried other frequencies. I finally hit on something, but it also made little sense. It was as though I was picking up a signal from thousands of feet in the atmosphere instead. I suspected there might be some kind of stealth areal craft, but nothing pinged on my TARDIS scanners. When I was in the bunker, I took readings, and sure enough, they matched.”

“How does this help us get back?”

“Well, like this. I determined that the Cyberkin transport rig had been set with coordinates that matched the origin of the molecular composition of that junk your Doctor threw together—“

“Hey!”

“—and it would seem it exists in all realities simultaneously. I managed to focus the settings using the power source you showed me so that it formed a link between our two universes, and now it should be able to teleport you back without a hitch.” He grinned.

Rose blinked. “Just like that?”

His smile faded. “Well, there is a small hitch.”

“So, not without a hitch.” She sighed.

“It requires a form of power that hasn’t been discovered yet.”

“That’s a mighty big hitch.” Rose ran her hand absently along the console. “If that time agent used it, he had to’ve powered it somehow.”

He nodded and flipped one final lever. “Lucky for us, I have that same power source here on the TARDIS.”

“Really? How will you connect it?”

“I have cables long enough to extend from here out to there. I’ll hook it up, get things going. You and Mickey step up on the transport rig and when I throw the switch, off you go.”

“It won’t damage the TARDIS, will it?” She looked up at the column of pale green light.

“It’ll put her out of commission for a while, but she’ll charge back up.”

Rose grinned and gave him a spontaneous hug. He hesitated and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground. They lingered for a moment in the embrace and Rose looked up to him as he set her on her feet.

“I’ll hate to see you go,” he said.

Rose swallowed, searching his eyes. “Thank you for helping us.”

“I know what it’s like to live without you. I don’t have to imagine what he’s going through.”

She looked down.

“I’m sure your mother misses you, too. Tell your Doctor to stay out of range of her right hook if she’s anything like my Rose’s Jackie Tyler. “He grinned, a fan of wrinkles spreading from the corners of his eyes. He squeezed her shoulders, and then dipped away from her to go under the console. He worked to pull out a thick cable and handed the end to Mickey. “Help me pull this outside, will you, Rickey?”

“It’s Mickey,” he said with an edge of irritation, and yanked the cable along with him.

“What’d you mean by ‘considering’ by the way?” Rose asked, she picked at her dress.

“Hmm? Oh.” He smiled and shook his head. “It was an inside jest between us. My Rose.” His smile grew sad as he looked away. “Considering she stole the dress she was wearing.”

“I borrowed this from Gwen for the party,” Rose said, smoothing her hand down the finely stitched bodice. Then she laughed to herself. “Reckon it’s about to be stolen too.”

“Now you see why I said it,” the Doctor said with a chuckle. “Keep up, Rose.”            

Within the hour, everything was set up. Rose and Mickey stood on the transporter and the Doctor hugged them each in turn.

“Goodbye, Doctor,” Rose said.

He cupped her cheek. “Goodbye, Rose.” He looked at her like he had so much more to say. His gaze held pages and pages of unsaid words, and she said a silent prayer that his Rose would find her way back to him, too.

The Doctor stepped back after shaking Mickey’s hand, offered a little salute, and then strolled back into the TARDIS. A few moments later, the power kicked in and Rose took a deep breath as everything around them disappeared.

 

Rose opened her eyes to find that they were in the same bunker, except the TARDIS was gone and there were at least six pistols aimed at them from all directions.

“Who the hell are you?” asked one of the gunmen, cocking his trigger.

Rose and Mickey put up their hands.

“I’m Rose Tyler, that’s Mickey Smith. We’re here to find the Doctor.”

A woman with copper hair and a white labcoat approached them, black, brass-rimmed goggles over her eyes. She lifted the goggles up and carefully pressed her hair back as she peered at them closely. “It can’t be! But you both were sucked into the void!”

“Miss Hartman?” Mickey asked.

Yvonne Hartman lifted her chin at the sound of her name, and that’s when Rose noticed a strange buckled collar with a blinking blue light around her neck. Rose looked at all of the guards, finding that they all wore a similar collar.

“Throw them in a cell. I’m sure that His Excellence will want to question them later once we deal with that nuisance of a Doctor.”

“Wait! We need to see the Doctor!” A spear of joy coursed through Rose and she nearly fell to her knees, but she steadied herself as she looked around again, sobering at the sight of all of the guns aimed in their direction.

Her question went unanswered as rough hands grabbed her and the butt of a riffle slammed into her head, knocking her unconscious.

When Rose came-to, her head pounding, she blinked as her surroundings came into focus. She was in a cell of sorts, with floor-to-ceiling iron bars and straw under her feet. Mickey sat nearby, facing away from her. He was talking to a woman in the cell with them. She squinted and tried to sit up, but her head throbbed, keeping her immobilized. She instead remained still and listened as she picked up bits of conversation.

 “Name’s Mickey Smith. What’re you in for?”

“I was caught and now they’re going to die, that’s all you need to know,” responded the woman in the cell. Her voice trembled under the weight of her failure.

“Who’s gonna die? We’re going to get out of here. Nobody’s gonna die, all right, miss?”

“I’ve tried. Been trying for hours, there isn’t. Trust me.” She sighed. “I hope the Doctor can find another way.”

Rose bolted upright and nearly vomited from the pain that shot through her like a bullet. She winced and held her head, and then peered over Mickey’s shoulder to the other prisoner. She had dark skin and black hair, and wore a sensible, yet scuffed up, riding skirt, brown buckled boots, and a white blouse with a red leather bodice. “Excuse me, did you say ‘the Doctor’?”

“Yes. Who are you?”

“Have you been traveling with him?” Rose asked, avoiding her question for the moment.

“Yes. You know him I take it?”

“Know him? I… used to travel with him. I’m Rose. Who’re you?”

“Martha. Wait—you’re not… you’re not _the_ Rose, are you? Rose Tyler?” Martha leaned around Mickey to look at Rose.

“That’s me. What of it? He say anything about me?”

“He said a lot about you at first.” Martha said

Rose forgot about the ache in her head as she was overcome by jealousy. It was so sudden and unexpected that she swore she could hear the blood rushing in her veins as her heartbeat quickened. It never occurred to her that the Doctor would have moved on. She took a breath to steady herself.

“At first? How long have you been with him?”

“Two years thereabouts. I should’ve known you’d be a blonde.” She shook her head and sighed.

Two years! She turned away as tears pricked behind her eyes. He moved on; of course he had.  Rose clenched her fists and looked back at Martha.  If she harbored feelings for the Doctor, Rose would have to deal with that later. The important thing was that the Doctor was alive and he was _here_.

 “Where is he?” Rose asked, her tone a little too sharp.

“He’s here somewhere. We were so close when we were separated. We’re trying to infiltrate Torchwood—it’s been taken over by this mad Lumic fellow. Where did you come from? Have you been kept here this whole time?”

 _Lumic._ Jealousy was quickly replaced by fear. It couldn’t be the same rogue time agent, could it? “Sort of. No. Not exactly—in another universe.” The Doctor was here—that was good. She’d keep that in mind and not the swarm of other terrible things that could be going on at this very moment. Rogue time agents, nefarious schemes by corrupt divisions in Torchwood. Just like the other universe. It was like a nightmare daring to repeat itself.  She closed her eyes, picturing the other Doctor’s sharp blue ones and muttered under her breath. “I won’t let it happen again. I promise.”

“What?” Martha asked.

“Nothing.” She stood, glad that the ache in her head was beginning to subside, and searched around the jail cell. “Right then, we need to get out of here. This cell is solid, but if it’s like the one in the Torchwood we just came from, it’ll have one weakness.”

“What’s that?” asked Mickey.

“That guard there? He’s a horny cur.” Rose waited until the guard pathed back towards the cell. He wore the same collar with the blue blinking light, and she hoped it wouldn’t affect her plan.  She adjusted her bodice and tugged up her breasts so that she spilled a little too much cleavage, and leaned against the jail cell. “Excuse me, sir.”

The guard walked towards her, eyeing her breasts with a slight smirk on his face. “Can I help you, miss?”

“We’re mighty thirsty. Think you could get us a drink?” She smiled and lifted her shoulder coyly.

He shook his head as he approached her. “Sorry, miss. Under strict orders. Can’t leave my post. You understand, don’t ya?”

“Aw, that’s a shame.” She reached out and ran a finger along his shirt buttons on down to the waist of his trousers.

He reached through the bar to touch the swell of her breast. “Maybe when you get outta here—“

THWAM! There was a crack as his head slammed into the bars. Rose let go of the guard’s waist as he slumped down to the ground, unconscious.

She reached through the bars to the keys at the guard’s waist and pulled them through so she could find the key that matched the cell.

“I can see why the Doctor’s so hung up over you,” Martha said.

Rose didn’t miss the present tense of Martha’s statement. She closed her eyes, feeling relieved, but didn’t say anything. She removed the gun from the guard’s duty belt and checked the chamber for how many bullets he had left before she slid it in her empty holster.

Mickey laughed. “Can you take us to where he’d be?”

“I need to finish my task first. I was in the middle of looking for the control device they use for those collars when I was caught,” Martha said. “This way.”

Martha led them up to the main floor, where they crouched in the stairwell as guards with collars paced along the hallways.

“I don’t know the layout of this place, but if I can get us back to the library, I’ll know where to go from there. That’s where Lumic has been headquartered and we’re sure the control device is there.”

“Lucky for you we’ve lived here for a year,” Mickey said. “Come with me.”

They ducked back down the stairs and Mickey led them through the servant’s floor, where they could traverse the span of the manor with relative ease. Only a couple of guards impeded their progress, causing them to take alternate paths. Eventually, they reached a linen closet and filed inside, closing the door behind them. It was a tight squeeze, and near pitch dark until Mickey lit the space with the strike of a match.

“Mick—,” Rose began.

“Shh.” Mickey put his finger to his lips as he lit a small candle. He picked up the tin candle holder and shuffled to the back of the closet. “If this place is like the other, there should be a false wall…” he ran his hand along the back of a row of shelves. “Here.”

He slid a wooden panel aside to reveal a dark corridor with unfinished walls.

“Where does this go?” asked Martha, peeking in.

“Throughout the house—with some limitations, but came in handy during the war I reckon.” He led them down a few long passageways, around a couple of turns and then stopped by a small wooden panel. “This should be the library,” he whispered.

He pressed on it gently and it cracked open wide enough for one person to pass through. On the other side, they saw that the passage opened into an enclosed piece of furniture—a wardrobe or display case. Mickey climbed forward and Rose could see nothing but his back for a few moments, before he returned.

“There’s a spyhole on the side that looks out—can see a good portion of the room through it. What do you need in there, miss?”

“I’ll know when I see it.” Martha moved in front of him and maneuvered through the narrow passage. She backed out after a tick, wearing a smile. “Yes! It’s there, behind the desk to the left,” she whispered, “but there are guards everywhere.”

“So we need to destroy that thing first and it’ll turn off those collars,” Rose said.

“Yeah, that’ll take down the mind control field and we could get through without a problem,” Martha said.

Rose remembered something the other Doctor had said to her about his Rose. About how she’d befuddle the targets of her family’s thieving operation with a dance, and she got an idea. “All right. We’ll distract the guards while you destroy that thing.”

Martha nodded. “Gotcha.”

“How exactly are we going to distract them?” Mickey asked.

“You’re dressed a bit like them, still in your Torchwood uniform from that party. Missing their symbol and their fancy effects, but I think you could pull it off. I’ve got on a pretty dress, so, it’ll go a little like this.” Rose drew the gun she’d taken off the guard and passed it off to Martha, who took it hesitantly.

Rose inhaled deeply, plastered on a huge grin on her face and squeezed through the passage, taking a bit of time as her dress got snagged on the frame of the passageway. Once her dress was sorted, she pushed open the display case doors, climbed out, and struck a pose, hand on her hip and arm in the air.

The guards rounded on her, guns drawn. There was a chorus of triggers being cocked and she swore her life flashed before her eyes—but she steeled her nerves.

“Surprise and howdy! Mr. Lumic, ah, His Excellence, thought y’all would like a little entertainment around these parts, so he sent us in to keep you on your toes.” She nodded towards a gramophone nearby. “Mickey?”

Mickey climbed out of the case after her sheepishly. “Er, yes, he did say that. It’s true.” He kept his hands up as he sidestepped over to the gramophone.

A nearby guard kept her gun raised, aimed right at Rose. “We are ordered to apprehend intruders. We have not been given orders to be entertained.”

Rose noticed that they all had dark circles under their red eyes like they’d been forced to stay awake for far too long. She felt bad for them—they were all prisoners just as she had been. For a moment, she was afraid her plan wouldn’t work. They were under mind control, after all.

One of the guards stepped forward, lowering his gun. “This some kind of joke?”

She kept her smile bright and confident, hoping their minds were malleable enough to her suggestions. With a little hop, she began to dance, swaying her hips and shimmying her shoulders. “Why, sir.” She sauntered up to one of the guards. “Do I look like I’m joking?”

He stared at her after exchanging a glance with a fellow guard. “Well, no, miss, but—”

Music filled the room and Rose spun around. “That’s more like it! Come on, relax. You look like you’ve been on your feet for days.”

Rose managed to corral all of the guards to the sitting area in the library as she poured drinks for them, all the while swiveling her body to the happy tune.  She glanced over covertly to see that Martha had been able to sneak out of the display case and was currently behind the big desk, the control device in hand, searching it over for how to turn it off.

One guard lost Rose’s attention and he stood up, drawing his pistol. “You! Halt!”

The rest of the guards rose to their feet as well and Rose was grabbed from behind. But before they could react further, Martha ripped out the wiring and stripped the gears, flinging them across the room. She drew the gun Rose had given her, shot at the control’s casing a couple times, and it popped apart. Like dominoes, the guards collapsed as their collars shorted out.

“YES!” Martha cheered, then blew on the barrel of the gun.

“Nice shooting, miss.” Mickey said with a sideways grin.

After a few moments, the guards began to stir. Rose bent down to help one of them—the woman who had spoken earlier—to her feet.

“What happened to us?” she asked, swaying with exhaustion.

“You were all under mind control,” Rose said. “I think. It seemed your collars were making you follow orders from this Lumic fellow.”

The woman was about to say something when an outburst of shouting filled the hallway outside of the library. Several footsteps echoed off the high ceilings and a group of guards hurried past. Rose carefully propped the woman against a settee and dashed over to the library entrance. She peered outside and saw Yvonne Hartman rushing towards her.

“Keep on! We must not let him get away with this!” She said as she hurried by, not even giving Rose a second glance.

Some of the guards from the library joined in. Rose, Mickey and Martha hung back until they had all passed, and then made their way outside with them.

Rose squinted through the glaring sun to find that the pasture was filled with soldiers, all wearing collars—but the soldiers had broken free of the mind control spell and were currently assisting in detaining a lone figure who was trying to scurry away.

In the blink of an eye, everything appeared to be back under Torchwood’s control—Mr. Lumic and his team having been easily defeated once his hoard of soldiers were no longer under his reign. Rose held up her skirt and rushed around, scanning every person in the area, wondering where the Doctor could be in all of this. He had to be alive. Had to be here. Martha had said he was here. He had to be somewhere! Her heart raced as she searched every huddle and group in her path.

“Doctor!” She called, but there was too much commotion and her voice was drowned out by Mr. Lumic’s frantic swearing.

Then at last, she saw the unmistakable shape of his coat stark against the hot afternoon sun. A haze of heat rose up from the ground, surrounding him in waves of shimmering air. A woman with red hair wearing riding breeches, boots, and a matching coat stood near him and they were engaged in an intense discussion. They had to be several yards away, and she was in a damn ridiculous gown.

She took a step towards them, afraid to believe he was really there. Afraid she’d wake up to find this was all a dream. She had dreamed of him often, after all. The red-haired woman was with him—had she been the one from her dream too?

The shackles that hung from Mr. Lumic’s wrists jangled nearby as he was being hoisted into a prisoner wagon, stirring her from her trance. She looked at him coolly.

“You! How are you—I thought I threw you into the void!” His eyes were wild and afraid as they slammed the iron-barred wagon door.

Rose kept her gaze measured, her eyes never leaving him even as his disappeared behind the door. She knew he meant the other Rose. The one from the other universe, and she felt a pang of sorrow for the Doctor of that world who missed her so much. At least she could bring the man to justice who had caused them so much torment.

She looked back at her Doctor just as he turned towards her, and her heart swooped up to her throat.


	15. Into the Sunset

“Martha! She did it!” Donna shook her fists as she cheered.

“Told you she was good,” said the Doctor as he rubbed his wrist where the shackles had been a few moments earlier. “Close one though.”

Lumic’s weasely voice called out in the distance as he was being dragged away by guards. “You…? I thought I threw you into the void!”

The Doctor’s eyebrow lifted. “What did he mean by that?”

“Who the heck knows? He was always one hen shy of a chicken coop.”

His lips quirked as he nodded. “Can’t argue that. But—wait. When you had that dream about the wolf, you said you’d see it as a woman out of the corner of your eye before you looked at it head on. What did she look like? The woman.” Rose had dreamt she was a wolf before she was tragically pulled from his life. Lumic had been prattling on during his moment of triumph about a woman who called herself the Bad Wolf and how he’d defeated her as though it would frighten them enough to reveal the knowledge he sought. It was a shot in the dark, but...

“Just… blonde. Think she wore red.” She shrugged and shook her head. “When she howled, I swore I heard her say something, but—” her pensive expression shifted abruptly. Recognition flashed in her eyes as she peered over his shoulder.

The Doctor’s brow drew together and he looked at her, puzzled. “What? What, Donna? What did she say? Could you remember? Please, Donna.” He finally noticed the shift in her expression. “What is it?”

She smiled a little and dipped her chin. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

His mouth moved, but his voice was stolen by the look in Donna’s eyes. He turned slowly, his heartsbeat so thick and fast he felt dizzy.

There, on the edge of the drive standing by Mickey and Martha, swathed in sunlight and blue silk was Rose, her face blooming into a radiant smile. He turned fully towards her, blinking and wondering if he’d gone mad. Perhaps she was a trick of the heat or leftover psychic reverb from the mind control devices that the guards had been wearing.  It wouldn’t be the first time he thought he saw her only to have the fantasy disappear when he drew closer. He should move. He should run to her, but he was stunned, unable to believe his own eyes. She gathered handfuls of her gown and began to run towards him.

She _was_ real. Her feet made tracks in the drive as she ran. Mickey and Martha had stopped talking to watch her. Donna was the one who pointed her out in the first place. Mere nanoseconds later, he broke into a sprint, his legs pumping as fast as he could to reach her, as though if he didn’t make it to her in time, she’d fade away.

She ran straight for him, her grin never wavering even as the pin fell from her hair, and he knew how she must be feeling. She was the only person who existed right then—he honestly wouldn’t care if the rest of the world fell away. Closer and closer they came until he could reach out to her and she leapt at him, arms wrapping around him so tightly he couldn’t breathe, or he could only breathe _her_ , which for the moment he preferred more than anything else. He enveloped her in a strong embrace, lifting her off the ground and spinning her. Her skirts swarmed around his legs and her hair fell over her shoulders, tickling his face. She smiled down to him, her eyes twinkling with joy and tears.

He lowered her down and as her toes touched the mud of the drive, her lips pressed against his. He breathed her in, slanting his lips over hers and deepening their kiss. Her fingers slid up the nape of his neck and into his hair, knocking the hat off his head. He pulled her against him, his arms crushing her to his body as if he dared the universe to try to take her away from him again. After a few moments, he parted from her and held her at arm’s length.

“Rose,” he said in a rush of breath, the smile never fading from his face. His hands roamed over her, her shoulders, her arms, up her neck. He braced her face with his palms and brushed a stray hair from her eyes with his thumb.

“Hello.” She smiled, her eyes searching his face, taking him all in.

“Long time no see.” Happiness bubbled through him like a geyser and he laughed, lifting her up again to squeeze her in a hug. He felt ridiculous and joyful and lucky and everything else that came with Rose being in his arms.

“Been busy, you know,” she said, nuzzling his neck and planting a kiss there, clutching him just as tightly.

“Oh, Rose… how did you do it?” He kissed her temple. Everything he’d ever felt for her came rushing up at once. Words he’d been dying to say to her lined up on his tongue but he was afraid to dispel the sheer elation of the moment, so he settled for gazing at her, making up for all the times he’d looked over to find her gone. He’d been wandering the desert for so long and she was his oasis and finally, _finally_ she wasn’t a trick of his thirsty mind.

“You showed me that anything was possible if I put my mind to it.”

“You have quite a mind,” he said against her temple. “I’m not sure if I had anything to do with it.”

She laughed, and the sound made his hearts skip several beats. “I missed you,” she said through her smile, looking into his eyes.

“Oh, Rose—”

“He was a right mess without you,” Donna interjected.

They pulled apart a little and the Doctor grinned at Donna. He’d forgotten she was there. “I was. She’s right.”

“Just a miserable sack of turnips. Took me and Martha weeks to get him to stop tellin’ us all the things that reminded him of you. Finally had enough when I caught him talking to a mop wearing a pink feather, pretending it was you.”

“Aww, Doctor,” Rose crooned.

“All right that’s—that’s enough!” He shook his head and held up his hands in defeat. “This is Donna Noble. She’s the crude one.”

“Hey!”

The Doctor noticed that Mickey and Martha had begun to wander over to join the conversation, and he waved them over, glad to put a buffer between Rose and any other embarrassing tales Donna wanted to reveal at the moment. He Doctor gave Mickey a firm handshake as he reached them.

“Good ol’ Mickey. Glad to see you again. I see Rose took good care of you.”

Mickey grinned and nodded with a tip of his hat. “Sure did, boss.”

He then gestured to Martha. “Martha Jones there. She did me some good.”

“I met Martha. I can see why she did!” Rose gave Martha a little nod, then smiled at Donna. “I think we already met. Though I wasn’t exactly myself at the time.”

Donna laughed. “You had a bit more fur and sharper teeth.”

“She’s not even blinking twice that we shared a dream across universes?” Rose grinned up at the Doctor, but there was a measured look in her eyes that he couldn’t quite define. “She must have been traveling with you for a while.”

“Couple years,” Donna said. “But I had to get used to it pretty early on. First I thought he’d lost his fool mind, then come to find out the whole world’s just as bonkers if you know where to look! What was it you were tryin’ to tell me in the dream, anyway?”

“Just to tell the Doctor that I’m coming home.” Rose glanced up at the Doctor and he smiled down at her, so proud of his pink and yellow dancer. He gave her a squeeze and kissed her just above her ear.

“I’ll leave you two alone then.” Donna adjusted her hat and walked off, waving Mickey and Martha to follow her. The Doctor slouched in relief and began to sway with Rose, pulling her into an impromptu dance.

“Excuse me, Doctor?” called Yvonne from near the prisoner wagon.

The Doctor groaned and looked over to her, squinting in the sunlight. Yvonne was waving him over rather excitedly as she studied an instrument in her hands. She toggled one of the levers and it made an odd sound. She hit it with her hand and looked up to wave the Doctor over again.

“Hurry! You must see this. And they have questions for you, Miss Tyler,” Yvonne added.

“It appears we’re needed elsewhere,” the Doctor said.

“Shouldn’t take long, yeah? When they’re finished, I think I’d like to go back and pay my ma a visit.”

“That’ll be an interesting conversation.” He tugged on his ear. “Think I should talk to her first so she doesn’t think she’s being visited by more ghosts.”

“Sure you’re up for that conversation?”

He sniffed and puffed up his chest. “If I can handle a giant, primordial, tentacled hell beast bent on destroying the world, I can handle your mother.”

“I don’t know, Doctor. She could turn a thimble into a deadly weapon. Seen her do a lot worse with a soggy biscuit.”

He laughed and squeezed her against him. “I believe that. I told her I lost you, though. That was a hard enough conversation; I think she’ll be _grateful_ that I found you.”

Rose smiled up at him pointedly. “Or, _I_ found _you_.”

“Yeah. Right. You found me.” He brushed a few strands of hair from her face reverently.

She bit her bottom lip, tilting her chin up as her eyes fluttered closed when his hand slid through her hair. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to catch her bottom lip in _his_ teeth, but Yvonne was now headed their way, sing-songing something about how they should get a room. They both reluctantly withdrew from each other so they could address Torchwood and get that whole thing over with.

 

After a couple hours of utter boredom—answering questions and playing meet-and-greet with the large number of excited Torchwood scientists, they were back in the TARDIS headed for Little London. Rose had gone to change into something more comfortable while the Doctor talked a bit with Mickey in the driver’s box about their stay in the other universe. Mickey was guarded, only revealing that they were treated well and that Rose had done little outside of searching for a way back.

When they finally arrived, Mickey, Martha and Donna decided to step out for a bite to eat at Henrik’s Saloon while Rose prepared to visit her mother. The Doctor saw the three out and hung back, feeling too antsy to join them. Rose hadn’t spent much time with him since they boarded the TARDIS—everyone else had wanted to hog her. If anyone should have gotten to spend time with her, it should’ve been him, right? He glared at the bannister of the grand staircase as he waited for Rose to come down, just knowing that Jackie would want to spend time alone with Rose as well. For days, probably. He was glad he had a time machine, at least.

At last, Rose emerged from her room at the top of the stairs. She wore a flowing tiered skirt, petticoat peeking out underneath as she descended the stairs, and a lace-trimmed summer blouse. Her hair was up in a loose bun, so wispy locks fluttered about her face as slipped past him for the open door.

But she reached out and pulled it closed instead.

“What are you—“

She turned around and faced him, hands behind her back holding the doors shut. He blinked, eyebrow lifted curiously as she moved towards him.

“It was one year for me,” Rose said, her gaze searching his face and dropping to his lips. “Never stopped thinking about you.”

The Doctor nodded, his mouth going dry at the look in her eyes. He reached for her when words failed him, hands finding her waist to pull her closer.

“You’ve been traveling with other women this whole time.” She walked her fingers up his waistcoat buttons until she reached his cravat. Her eyes cut up to his and he hadn’t expected to see a tinge of fear there. She bit her lip as her brows drew together, her allure slipping to reveal the worry underneath.

“Friends. Just friends. There’s only been you all this time,” he said. That would reassure her—wouldn’t it? He wasn’t used to these kind of conversations. Wasn’t used to being so in love that not even years of distraction could wear it down. She had nothing to be afraid of; surely she knew what she was to him.

She held his gaze, still conflicted about something. “When I stood there on that beach on the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me?”

His lips parted, knowing exactly what he was going to say, but panic unfurled in his stomach and he swallowed thickly. He loved her. Of course he did, more than anything. But saying it out loud—

“Go on, say it,” she prompted, shaking off his addled thoughts. Her hand went still against his chest.

“I said, ‘Rose Tyler—” the words were there, burning his tongue, making his hearts race. Hadn’t he told her countless times in so many other ways?

“And how was that sentence going to end?”

He leaned down, his head swarming with the words, his body humming with the emotion they meant to encompass. But could they? How could the words even begin to encapsulate how he felt about her? His hands found her face, and his lips brushed against hers as he spoke.

“I _love_ you.”

Her fingers gripped the lapels of his coat, pulling him that last hairsbreadth closer so she could crush her lips against his. He responded instantly, giving over to her every ounce of himself. His lips moved over hers, consuming her, and she tasted just how he remembered, enticing him to pull her hips flush against his. She made a soft noise—a moan, a sigh—and it ignited a fire in his belly he’d thought been extinguished the moment she was devoured by the winds of the tornado. One of his hands slid back through her hair, carelessly unravelling her bun. He cradled her head to him as her tongue grazed the seam of his lips.

He felt her backing up and he moved along with her until she was pressed against the nearby wall. She lifted her skirt and curved her hips forward as she slid a leg around his waist, her tongue now stroking along his. He groaned as his blood rushed south and he helplessly grinded himself against her center, which was blissfully warm even through her petticoat.

He grasped at her waist, fingers gripping the bunched fabric of her blouse and tugging it up to reveal the edge of a simple corset at her waist. She began to arch under his touch, under the pressure building between them. He bucked against her, so riveted by her smell and her taste and her touch all surrounding him at once that he felt his control slipping. He’d been without her for so long, and now she’d taken over every sense and he knew he couldn’t breathe but he had to keep kissing her. She pulled her lips away just as he tilted his head the other way to go for another round. She was gasping, her chest heaving and her face was flushed with desire, but he’d forgotten that she had no respiratory bypass. A smile flashed on her breathless lips and he slowed down to savor her gaze for the moment.

“I missed you,” he said, as if it needed saying, and for some wild reason he needed to hear her say it too. The hand that’d been twined in her hair slid back around to cradle her face and his thumb brushed along her parted lips, coaxing some kind of admission from her. Of love, of longing. Anything.

“Can’t say I blame you.” Her lips curled into an unforgiving, coy smile under his thumb.

“I deserved that.” He chuckled as he dipped in to trail kisses along her jaw and down to her neck. Her hips rocked against him in response, and he looked up to see her grin faltering. He smiled at that and went in for more. She shivered, rolled her head to the side, and her teeth found his ear to give it a firm nip. He kept kissing lower, along her collar bone, lower to the soft curve of the top of her breast made prominent by her corset. His tongue grazed her skin there and he felt her begin to wiggle and shift as she tried to pull her blouse up over her head. He leaned back a little to assist, divesting her of the pale blue garment and tossing it to the ground. His hand skated up her waist and across to the row of clasps down the front of her corset. She watched him through her lashes, lips parted and back arched. He changed his mind and slowly lowered to his knees. After a moment of shrugging out of his duster and rolling up his shirt sleeves, he returned to her, placing his hands on her outer thighs.

Rose blinked, her head tilting down to follow his shift in posture. His eyes never left hers as he gathered a bundle of skirt and petticoat in his hand and began to lift it, his lips resting at her inner knee. She bit her lip, shifting a bit as he placed a kiss there.

“Could I make it up to you?” he asked, fingers stroking the soft skin under her knee.

“ _Please_ ,” she said with desperation, and bit her lip—possibly to temper her urgency. But she didn’t need to; he rather appreciated the encouragement. He kissed up her thigh, pushing the skirts higher until he felt her grab them from him and hold them up herself. His hands slid up her legs and he lifted his face to the apex of her thighs. He looked back up at her as he slid his fingers along the lower edge of her pantalettes. They were gathered around her thighs with pink ribbons, and split along the middle. Oh, how convenient. His erection strained against his trousers as his hands moved higher to part the split in her pantalettes to reveal her sex just below a little patch of curls.

Rose slid down the wall an inch, her legs parting further for him. Captivated, he pressed his fingertips through her folds, finding how wet she’d become, and it took all of his strength not to lean forward and close his mouth over her. But this wasn’t about what he wanted. He was sure a case could be made for her wanting his mouth there, too, but… maybe he was being a bit self-indulgent, loving the way she felt against his long fingers.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, struggling to ignore the ache that was building in his trousers with every breathy sigh that fell from her lips. He inhaled her scent, and slid his fingers up over her clit, applying gentle pressure as he rolled it in a tight circle.

“ _Yes_ ,” she hissed, and her voice trailed off in a moan. Her hips began to undulate against his hand, and he slid a few fingers down, parting her folds so his fingertips pressed into her. His thumb grazed her clit and she began panting and urging him on and she had to know what this was all doing to him. He licked his lips as he withdrew his hand and she gasped in near despair at the loss of his touch.

“Don’t stoo— _oooh_.” He heard her head thunk back against the wall as he closed his mouth over her clit. His hands held onto her thighs, fingers digging into her flesh as he anchored himself to her for control. The build of pressure in his trousers had become unbearable, and he wanted to give himself a bit of relief, but he was intent on bringing her pleasure. Two years had been two too many to be apart from her, and he’d be damned if she wouldn’t walk away from this moment not knowing how important she was, how loved she was, and how needed she was.

He flattened his tongue and licked her in one long stroke from her center up to her clit. He did it again. Again. And again, until she grasped his hair with her free hand and held him still where she wanted him the most. He firmed up his tongue and flicked it against her taut nub, over and over. Grazed it around in tight little circles and she was grinding herself against him, unabashedly drawing every ounce of pleasure out of his tongue she could get. He was more than happy to oblige as he helped her sling one of her legs over his shoulder and he cradled her pantelette-clad bottom in his hands. He opened his mouth over her sex and kissed her, his tongue curling into her core, drawing out moisture and dragging it up through her folds and back to her clit. And that was her undoing.

She cried out his name as she came apart, her legs quivering as she snapped like a bow. Her moan was an arrow aimed straight for the coil that had wound up so tight in his own belly that he groaned in response. He lapped at her gently, savoring her taste and sating her further, until she was whimpering and pushing his head away—too sensitive to take it anymore.

He looked up at her as the skirts fell back around her ankles. She smiled, hazy, gazing at him through heavy-lidded eyes. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair stuck in little wet tendrils around her face and shoulders. He stood and kissed her, a firm press of his lips against hers and she fell into him. Her arms circled his shoulders, and he leaned down to hook his arm under her knees and lifted her up into his arms.

“I love you too,” Rose said. She nuzzled her face into his neck as he carried her deeper into the TARDIS mansion towards his room.

He kissed her forehead, inwardly cursing the TARDIS for not moving his room closer when he needed it. With every step he took, her hip bumped against his erection and while it provided a little relief, it made it more difficult to not just drop her legs right where they were and take her against the nearest wall. A shiver raked through him at the thought—imagining being buried in her heat as each of his thrusts made the paintings on the wall near her head rattle.

He shook his mind free of that image as he found his door, which was, rather conveniently, ajar. He shouldered through and crossed over to his bed, where he lay her down. He slid out of his boots and climbed over her. His lips found hers and she opened her mouth against his, their tongues meeting with soft, languid strokes. He pulled back, kissing her chest as he worked the ties at her skirt and petticoat. He pulled them down to cast them aside, leaving her in the pantellettes for now, and then ghosted his hands up her legs to coax them apart. He settled between them and smiled at her.

Rose giggled as she looked up at him. “A girl could get used to this kind of treatment, you know.”

“Oh, that? That was nothing.” He skimmed his hands over the swell of her hips and up further, where he began to unclasp her corset.

“It sure felt like something to me,” she said, and caught his gaze as he peeled the corset apart. Her breasts moved to rest a little lower on her chest, now free of the constricting garment. He leaned down and took a nipple in his mouth, swirling his tongue around and sucking at it until she gasped, and then moved to do the same to the other. She wiggled her hips and lifted her back, pressing her breast into his mouth, so she could slide out of the corset and toss it aside. He resettled between her legs, hers locking around his waist. He then lifted up on his forearm hovering over her. His gaze dropped to her breasts and back up to her flushed face.

She licked her lips as his hand ghosted over her torso and up to cup one of her breasts, thumb circling over her pebbled nipple. Her body undulated under him in response, her center grinding against his length and chest rising as her body awakened for another round. Her eyes closed and she gripped handfuls of sheets as she let out a breathy moan, his finger still ringing her nipple.

But then her eyes popped open and she reached up to push him off. Caught off guard, he blinked as she sat up, chasing him with kisses that only confused him more. Apologies leapt to his mind, but he wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, and then he felt himself being rolled to his back as her hand came to rest on his cock. She rubbed him through his trousers, smiling that tongue-touched grin of hers, and everything made sense again.

“Your turn,” she said, and undid his trousers, pulling them down enough to free his erection. She then completely ignored it, and crawled up over him to unbutton his waistcoat and his shirt underneath, splaying her hands over his bare chest. She dropped kisses on his neck and down through the light dusting of hair on his chest to his abdomen and he felt his entire body relax with every brush of her lips against his skin. He sat up a little to pull off his waistcoat and shirt and she sat back on her knees to watch, helping him if something got snagged. Once he was shirtless, he laid back and she snaked her way up him again, breasts brushing his cock and abdomen, making him groan.

He ran his hand through her hair as she resumed her caresses. They traveled lower and lower, until finally she wrapped her palm around his erection. He hissed through his teeth at the burst of pleasure that rocked through him. After being on edge all this time he was so sensitive, and her hands were warm against his taut skin. He closed his eyes as her hands worked to relieve at least some of the pent up pressure. He really should stop her. This wouldn’t last long, especially if she— _fuck!_

Her mouth closed around his cock, her hand sliding his foreskin down as she swirled her tongue around the head. His hips bucked involuntarily, bringing him a bit deeper into her mouth and he groaned as she began to cup him with her other hand. It felt amazing and he didn’t want her to stop. She should stop, though. Shouldn’t she? He groaned. The part of his brain that helped things make sense began to shut down as she pumped him a few times, her mouth chasing her hand up and down his shaft. He looked down at her and that’s when it dawned on him. He sat forward and ran his hand through her hair to garner her attention.

“ _Rose_ ,” he breathed, as she flattened her tongue and licked him from base to tip, her eyes meeting his through thick lashes. He almost came right there, but he pulled away before she could do it again.

“Do you not like—”

“ _I do_. It feels good, Rose, so good. But—”

He took her hand and tugged her up so that they both sat on their knees, facing each other. He kissed her hand, then brought it around his shoulder as he leaned in to catch her lips with his. She returned his kisses, though her lips were hesitant and the look in her eyes, uncertain. So he grabbed her waist and rubbed his hands up and down her back, pulling her closer.

“I’d like to be inside of you,” he said, letting go for a moment to shed his trousers completely. He stumbled a little on the soft mattress as he settled back on the bed. “When I…”

“Oh,” she responded, exhaling with relief, gently steadying him. “Yeah, I’d like that too.”

He smiled, hating a bit how awkward he felt as she looked him over.  She nudged him back so that he sat on his heels. Her expression was tender as she climbed onto his lap, circling her arms around his shoulders again. She’d regained her confidence as she gazed at him, her eyes so full of open, unabashed love. He spread his hands over her back, pulling her body against him more firmly so that her breasts met his chest and his erection rested against her abdomen.  She was so beautiful, so strong and incredible, and he wondered what he ever did to deserve this woman back in his arms after such an impossible loss. He was sure he deserved for her to never return, but there she was, now trailing wet kisses down his throat.

He felt like he should say something, possibly one or two of the thousands of compliments or expressions of gratitude swarming in his brain. _You_ _’re everything to me. You_ _’re the sunrise in my never-ending sky. You_ _’re here and you_ _’re so alive and your skin is so soft_ —but he’d rather just show her right now, and the way she took his length in her hand and circled her thumb around, spreading precome, made it not too difficult for him to imagine that she was just as impatient as he was.

He twisted and brought her down to the bed to hover over her again, his hips caged between her legs and her arms still looped around his neck. He rutted lazily against her, his cock sliding up through her slick folds and shattering the remaining awkwardness that had come over him. She moaned as his erection glided over her clit a few times, her breath quickening as she rolled her head back. It felt good, but he needed more. He needed to be surrounded by her. He caught her mouth in another kiss, her tongue sliding across his without pretense, and he lifted his hips away just enough so that as he thrust forward again, he slid partly inside of her.

She wrenched her lips away from his to toss back her head. “Oooh, _God_.” Her legs locked around him and pushed, settling him in all the way.

The Doctor remained still as he was sheathed completely inside of her. He buried his face against her neck, afraid to move or he’d shatter far too soon.  The delicious friction of sliding inside of her slowly subsided, with only the warmth and tightness remaining. But it was hard to pull back from the edge. She was not quite still beneath him, her chest rising and falling, pressing her breasts against his chest with every inhale. He shivered at the sensation and she shifted her hips, her muscles clenching around him.

“Stay still, please,” he gasped. His arms trembled as he stiffened, straining against the need to pull back out and thrust into her over and over at a dizzying speed. The relief would be so exquisite, but so selfish. It’d be over in seconds. She stilled, but continued rubbing lazy paths up and down his back with her fingertips.

After a moment, he lifted his head and looked down at her to find her smiling up at him, her lip between her teeth. He smiled back as she ran her fingers up through his hair.

“Sorry. I missed you.” He hoped he wasn’t blushing.

“It’s all right,” she said, her hand cupping his cheek.

He kissed her forehead, and then pulled out of her to slowly fill her again. Relieved that his fervor was momentarily tempered, he was able to set up a steady pace as he dropped kisses along her shoulders. She sighed with pleasure, her hips rocking up to meet every languid thrust. After a few moments, an edge of frustration set in. It was too slow; he needed to go faster, and she dragged her hands down his back, clutching at his ass to urge him deeper. He sped up his thrusts, and she began to writhe again, arching her back, lips falling open to moan and gasp his name as his fingers slid between their bodies and found her clit.

She bucked up, clenching around him and he couldn’t take it anymore. He began to thrust harder, faster, the coil of pleasure building again, burning through him and setting every nerve on fire. She lifted her hips and he pounded into her, his hand moving sloppily against her clit. He was unable to focus as his need for release became single-minded. He gazed down at her, at how her face was flushed with pleasure, her brow creased and a sheen of sweat made her skin glow, wetting her hair. Her breasts bounced with every thrust and he couldn’t tear his eyes away. He felt her hand slide between them, swatting his out of the way.

He shifted his angle, grinding against her with every thrust. Her fingers grabbed at his back, nails digging into his flesh as he went deeper, friction sliding over that place inside of her that he hoped would draw her to the peak. He leaned down and caught a nipple between his teeth.

“Docto— _ooooh_!”

She came apart beneath him, her body curving up and her head falling back. Her muscles pulsed around his cock, and the rhythmic pulling sensation drove him over the edge. He broke seconds after her, his body going rigid, his cock buried deep. It was nearly blinding, the torrent of bliss that burst through him. He had a brief moment of clarity and opened his eyes to look down at Rose. She was panting, pink and glistening, and he loved her more than anything in this universe. 

Spent, he fell against her, murmuring affections and confessions against her skin. He kissed her neck, and she wrapped her arms around him as she returned his words with her own. They reveled in vulnerability, in love, and in celebration of lost things being found.

Eventually, he shifted and rolled to his back so she could roll over and sling her arm over his waist and rest her head against his shoulder. He ran his fingers up and down her arm and she slung a leg between his, settling flush against him. It wasn’t long before she dozed off, but he couldn’t sleep. He lay there, resting his cheek against the top of her head as he let his mind wander.

After some time—a bath, a bite to eat, and another round when getting dressed wasn’t quite in the cards yet—they gathered the courage to visit Rose’s mother. As he watched Jackie crush her daughter in a tearful embrace, the Doctor gathered courage to leave Rose with her for a day so they could bond properly.

But, he couldn’t. He was weak, and he couldn’t care less who knew it right now. He’d gone straight back to Henrick’s, to check in on the others (thankfully they were still there—sharing stories and playing round after friendly round of poker), and said he’d see them in a few days. They gave him puzzled looks, but he hoped Mickey would catch his drift as he hurriedly left the saloon and made his way back to the TARDIS. Coordinates were set (and double, and triple checked) for five days later, and he skipped the waiting all together.

Rose had to know as she bounded across the dirt main road, bags for a long journey in hand, and over to the TARDIS. He helped her sling her bags into the main doors, and then she climbed up into the driver’s box, settling at his side, just where she belonged.

“Where to?” he asked, flipping a switch and toggling a gear.

“Wherever, s’long as I’m with you.”

He grinned and glanced at the road ahead. The sky was shifting, pale blue fading into warm pinks and golds and oranges as the sun set on the horizon. He slung an arm across her shoulders and she smiled, her eyes focused forward. He snapped the reins and the horse set off, carrying them towards that wide, open sky.  The road to anywhere and anywhen unrolled before them, and as long as they were together, they knew life would be fantastic.


End file.
